Ouran High School Mix Up
by Kaoru.and.Hikaru
Summary: Hikaru notices Kaoru acting oddly. In the attempt to find out what's wrong he confronts two odd girls and one screwy mix up. HikaxOC KaoxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Ouran High School Mix-up**

_I had noticed changes in my brother. It had been going on for quite a while. He would randomly become quiet or start turning red. He would space out and run into things, then look around rapidly. In most classes he would be unusually quiet and focused. He was acting weird, and I didn't like it. This was something new. I hated new. I was afraid of change and loathed different. The clue words are; Hat__**ed, was, **__and loath__**ed. **__Meaning used to. I was unconsciously changing myself. Kaoru always helped me, so I helped him. _

**Chapter 1**

Hikaru walked to his first class along with Haruhi and hid twin, Kaoru. Today he planned to be conscious of his brother, he _would _find out what was wrong with him.

He led the way into the empty classroom; or seemingly empty, since a few of their classmates where there. Hikaru's much hated desk-buddy (they had double desks in this class) was already here. She was holding a book and chatting with Kaoru's desk buddy, who was in front of her.

"_Ohayo_, dumbass," Hikaru said as he approached the desk.

"_Ohayo,_" she replied nonchalantly.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru exclaimed, "don't be so rude!"

Kaoru sat down and turned around to face his brother, "I'm sorry, Kitozawa-chan. Ignore him."

"S'alright, Hitchiin-kun. I'm already there," and she giggled slightly. Hikaru rolled his eyes; this girl could not get more irritating.

"So how are you today, Hitachiin-kun?" scratch that, she could.

"Kaoru, please, and it has been fine so far, how about you Imoto-chan?" Kaoru turned to his own desk-buddy and Hikaru quickly glanced at _his_ desk-buddy. She was looking at Kaoru sadly and sighing quietly. Hikaru smirked.

"Got feelings for my other, ne, Miyuki-chan?" the girl glared at Hikaru with positively frightening gray-blue eyes.

"Kitozawa. No, I don't. Don't be stupid."

"You lie pretty well. You can even keep a straight face. I'm impressed."

"Go to hell," she said coldly and turned away from him.

Hikaru was about to retort but Haruhi—who at the time had been sitting next to him, reading—had a question.

- - -

Hikaru was bored out of him mind, during class, he decided to check on Kaoru. Kaoru was paying close attention to the teacher, no redness in the face, no nervousness. Had it all been a phase? He doubted it, but he let his gaze shift to Kitozawa Miyuki, his desk-buddy. Her short brown hair was cut short in choppy layers and curved around her face. Her gray-blue eyes seemed more sad, than anything else. He followed her gaze and his eyes landed on Kaoru.

_So she __**does**__ have feelings for him!_

Hikaru made a mental note to taunt her about it later. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her rapidly start shaking her head and then furiously scribbling in her book.

This girl was weird.

- - -

Miyuki and Kuri left the classroom as soon as classes ended. Normally they would head straight home, but Kuri had some other plans.

"_Onegai_!"

"No."

"Please!!!"

"Hell no."

"Yuki-chan! Please come! You've never gone before!"

"And I don't intend to!"

Kuri looked at her with puppy eyes, silently begging her to come with her. Miyuki looked away, not wanting to give in. Kuri moved to her other side and stared at her some more.

"Fine!" Miyuki finally yelled.

"_Wai_!"

- - -

Hikaru walked around the host club, looking at his fellow hosts doing what they did best. He saw Kaoru telling stories to some girls and they giggled. Ever since the last school festival the twins had gone on a more different path of hosting, though they always did their 'brotherly love' on request.

He glanced over at Haruhi, who—even after revealing she was a girl—stayed a host. She got customers too! Not only girls needing advice, but boys as well. Kyouya thought it was a good idea since they could now service both genders.

Hikaru sighed. The next rotation was starting soon and he had only one customer. He was mature enough (just barely) to admit that Kaoru was indeed, more popular than he was. He always had at least four girls at a time, except on slow days. Hikaru usually had more than just one but, alas, today was a slow day.

He approached the table where he would serve his customer, and was surprised to find a familiar brunette girl sitting back in the chair, reading manga.

"Well, surprise, surprise," Hikaru said, "who would have thought _you'd _be here, of all people."

The girl glared, "I was dragged here for your information."

"Sure, but why designate me?"

"Didn't know anybody else, and Haruhi has enough to deal with already."

That was the truth. Haruhi was more popular than both Hitachiins combined and had several people—even on slow days.

"Miyuki-chan," Hikaru feigned hurt, "Why must you be so mean?"

"Shut up. My name is Kitozawa, Hitachiin-san."

"Oh, do drop the formality, Miyuki-chan, please, call me Hikaru," his sarcasm deteriorated the air around them.

"No."

"Oh, why not, Miyuki-chan, you call Kaoru, Kaoru-kun."

"That only happened today, Hitachiin-kun."

"Well, anyway, it appears I'm supposed to entertain you." Hikaru said sitting down opposite her.

"Lets not and say you did," she retorted, turning back to her book.

"Uh…no," Hikaru stared at her, bored, "Kyouya would see you sitting by yourself and _I'd _get in trouble." She didn't reply. "Hey who dragged you here anyway?"

She looked up, "Kuri-chan" she looked in Kaoru's direction, "She wanted me to come and try this out." Hikaru looked over and saw two girls over with his brother, one was definitely Ikomoto-san, and they seemed to be laughing at something Kaoru had said, while Kaoru himself was blushing.

"And what do you think of it?" Hikaru leaned over trying to see her face.

"Never again."

Hikaru shut up after that. They sat there for a while, Hikaru trying repeatedly to start a conversation, but Miyuki would not cooperate. After a while Hikaru started getting mad.

"Will you at least pretend your enjoying this?!" He glared at her.

"Oh, Hikaru-kun," she smiled cutely and placed her book in her lap, "I'm enjoying this greatly!"

Hikaru was stunned, obviously not expecting this response. He stared at her.

"What?!" she said in a whisper, "you want me to pretend I'm enjoying this right?"

Hikaru realized this and felt stupid. _Right! She's just pretending, like I asked her! _Hikaru looked back at her and smiled.

"Of course, Miyuki-chan, it's wonderful to hear that you like this so much," he smiled sweetly, a smile that usually made his customers blush red and flustered.

"Oh! But why wouldn't I enjoy this Hikaru-kun?" she said tilting her head slightly, "You're a wonderful host!"

"You flatter me!" Hikaru looked away, his eyes downcast, "I'm not nearly as good as you say."

She put her hand on top of his. "Hikaru! Don't be so negative about yourself!" she gazed at him caringly and softened her voice, "You are an incredible person and you have a wonderful personality. Anybody would be lucky to have you as a friend, I know I would."

Hikaru froze. Her whole speech struck something in him somewhere. He looked up and she was staring at him, obviously waiting for his response. He came out of his reverie and finished, clutching her hand to add effect.

"Miyuki-chan, you are a truly pure person. You see only inner beauty and look past flaws. If only… If only there were more people like you… everyone would be a little bit happier."

The two stared at each other for a while, him still clutching her hand, until both broke out in to fits of laughter.

"That had to be the funnest thing I have done all day!" Miyuki said in between breaths.

"Haha! That was the most sickeningly funny crap I have ever said!" Hikaru fell out of his chair. This only caused both of them to laugh more.

Miyuki stood up her book nestled under her left arm.

"Mm? Where are you going?" Hikaru asked, getting back into his seat.

"The rotation ended, I better leave," she turned around to walk away.

"_Mata ashita_, Miyuki-chan!" Hikaru called after her.

She turned around and smiled at him.

"_Mata ashita_, Hikaru-kun."

**End Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ouran High School Mix Up**

_I had met an interesting girl. Kitozawa Miyuki-chan, short brown hair, blue-gray eyes, a bit of a temper. All in all, a very annoying girl. I really don't like her, but she seems to like Kaoru. We only got along __once__ in the history of our… relationship (for lack of a better word) and I still find her quite infuriating. I honestly don't see how that girl, Ikomoto Kuri (medium blonde-brown hair, green eyes), can stand to be around her for so long. But…_

_I can't help but wonder… does Kaoru like this girl back? That would explain the more-common-than-normal reddening of the face. I have to accept it if it's true. I might just have to get along with my worst enemy, for the sake of my brother._

**Chapter 2**

Hikaru and Kaoru arrived at school earlier than usual today. Though it seemed, as of recently, nothing was usual.

"Kuri-chan!" Kaoru waved at the girl walking toward them.

"How are you today, Kaoru-kun?" Kuri asked.

"Fine, so far," Kaoru looked around, "Kitozawa-san is not with you?" Hikaru noticed this, _he asks about her first._

"I believe I said you could call me Miyuki, Kaoru-kun," Miyuki came up behind Kuri. She was wearing her normal clothing, meaning the boys uniform.

"Of course," Kaoru laughed slightly, "We should get going to class."

"Why?" Kuri asked, "is it time already?"

"No," Miyuki replied, "Kaoru-kun just forgot he was early today" she giggled. "Which reminds me, _why _are you so early?"

Kaoru turned slightly red and got flustered, "w-well, I was thinking…that…well…"

"It's okay," Miyuki smiled, "you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Kaoru nodded in thanks.

"By the way, where's Fujioka-chan?" Kuri asked.

"I don't know," Hikaru answered glumly, remembering how he had lost his first love.

"I was really surprised to find out she was a girl," Miyuki said, "but, you know, it kinda makes sense…"

There was an awkward silence and Kuri suggested they sit down on the lawn in front of the school to talk.

None of them remembered actually _what_ they talked about, because they talked about a lot. The four were also confused about how they got from 'their daily lives' to 'weapons of war', especially with 'the types of birds in southern Africa' somewhere in the middle.

When the warning bell rang, the group got up and dusted their clothes off, and started walking to class.

"Wait! Hikaru-san! I need to talk to you!" The three in front of Miyuki stopped and stared at her while Hikaru walked back to her. "You guys go ahead!" she waved, "I just need to talk to Hikaru for a second!"

Kaoru and Kuri took her advice and kept walking ahead. Miyuki started after them and Hikaru watched as well. After a couple of seconds Hikaru turned his attention to Miyuki.

_I wonder what she wanted to talk about? Perhaps…at the club yesterday?_ This had to be the first time he actually looked at her. _Her hair frames her face perfectly and her eyes match her personality,_ he made a face, _not that I know much about that. _His cheeks tinted pink at his line of thought. _Well, I won't deny it, she would be pretty cute, if she wasn't so damn annoying._

"Hikaru? Are you there?" Hikaru shook those thoughts from his head and looked at Miyuki.

"If this is about yesterday, well, lets just pretend it never happened, as far as I know, Kitozawa Miyuki wasn't even there," Hikaru thinking he had covered everything started walking away, back toward Kaoru.

"Wait!" Miyuki grabbed his hand, "this isn't about yesterday!" She pulled him back to her side, "Just let them walk to class together, okay?"

Hikaru looked ahead and saw Kuri and Kaoru talking amiably on their way to class.

"I thought you liked him," Hikaru took his hand back from Miyuki and started walking.

"I do," Hikaru stared at her, "but he likes Kuri-chan." She caught up with him and walked by his side. "I can tell Kuri-chan is developing feelings as well," she looked up at Hikaru, who was only 4 inches taller, "why not push them in the right direction?"

"So you mean Kaoru likes, Ikomoto?"

"Of course, I think everyone knows it, except for Kuri-chan," _'and me'_ Hikaru added silently.

"But," Hikaru asked, "doesn't this make you sad?"

"No," she was lying, "Kuri-chan is really pretty, so a lot of guys want to go out with her. All of them—the guys, I mean—weren't very nice people in general."

"Are you saying my brother isn't nice?!"

"Let me finish! Geez, anywho, Kaoru is the nicest guy I know, and is the only one of her suitors I approve of," _do you even get a say in it? _"so I'm helping them get together. You can either be with me or against me Hitachiin-san."

"Hey you called me Hikaru earlier," Hikaru fake pouted.

"That was so Kaoru didn't think I was talking to him." They approached the door to their first class.

"Give me you're answer after class."

- - -

Hikaru couldn't pay attention during class. He stared at Kaoru almost the whole time trying to catch some proof that he was actually _crushing_ on this girl Hikaru barely knew.

Apparently, he wasn't being to inconspicuous since he got a note from next to him that read:

_Nervous? Or just scared cause your brother likes some one?_

Hikaru glared at the note and scribbled his reply.

**Shut up. **

Miyuki stifled a giggle and responded.

_You're so mature. xD_

**I hate you. I hope you know that.**

_Known it for a while. You don't actually hide your feelings._

**Neither do you. It doesn't take that much to tell you like my brother. You must feel pretty stupid since he doesn't like you back.**

Miyuki didn't reply to that. She just crumpled up the note and focused on what was left of the lesson.

When they left for lunch, Miyuki left the classroom in a hurry.

"She told me she had something to do," Kuri said as they headed to the cafeteria.

- - -

Half way through she didn't come back. Hikaru, remembering what Kuri said about leaving them alone together, thought this was another one of her plans and opted to go find her.

"You're getting really close to Miyuki-chan, aren't you Hikaru?" Kaoru said, thoughtlessly, "you're becoming pretty good friends."

"What?! No! No way! She's the most annoying girl I've ever met! Why would I be friends with her?!" Hikaru stopped when he saw Kaoru smirk and Kuri giggled. He realized that no matter what he said, they would think what they wanted.

- - -

Hikaru walked down the hallways that were open during lunch and asked people if they knew where Miyuki is. No body really knew anything except for one girl who said she saw her limping towards the nurses' office.

Hikaru stalked to the nurses' office. _Why is this girl so troublesome!?_ He knocked on the white sliding door and it opened to reveal an older woman, probably in her early 40's who was a good deal shorter than Hikaru.

"May I help you?" The woman asked.

"Is Kitozawa Miyuki here?" he looked over her head but still couldn't tell if she was in there or not.

"Oh, yes!" the woman smiled, "she's in here."

They walked around the corner into a small room where Miyuki was sitting on the bed with her foot in a bucket of water.

"I came to get you," Hikaru said, feeling awkward, "I'll be outside." He stood right outside the door, and he heard the nurse start talking.

"Oh, Miyuki-chan!" the nurse squealed, "he's so cute! Is he your boyfriend?"

Miyuki giggled, "no, Kumura-sama, we're just…accomplices, is a good way to put it."

"Oh. That's too bad. You'd look so cute together."

"Thank you, Kumura-sama." The nurse left after that, but not before putting a hand on Hikaru's shoulder and saying 'good luck,' whatever that meant.

Hikaru walked in while Miyuki was putting her sock back on.

"Why can't you just wear the girls uniform?" Hikaru sat down on the bed next to her.

"Are you kidding?!" She looked at him shocked, "Those dresses are horrendous! You'd have to stab me, tie me to a chair and throw me in a well before I'd wear that dress!"

"Yeah, yeah," He said jokingly, "what happened anyway?"

"Oh," she blushed, "stupid me, I tripped down some stairs, Kumura-sama says I'm lucky I just twisted my ankle."

"Stupid is right," Hikaru commented, "who trips down stairs?"

"I'll push you down some if you like," Miyuki said dryly, "why were you the one to come find me anyway?"

"What, did you already forget?" Miyuki stared blankly at him, "We want them to be together right? Besides I felt like a third wheel."

"Hikaru-kun!" Miyuki squealed, hugging Hikaru's arm, "does that mean your helping me!?"

"Yes, now get off!" Hikaru yelled.

"You don't have to be embarrassed Hikaru-kun," Miyuki teased, "I just hugged your arm."

"I'm not embarrassed!"

"Okay, whatever."

Hikaru sighed, there was no getting through to anybody! "It was weird, 'cause usually I would think the other person was the third wheel and should leave, but I felt I should leave…"

"Aw!" Miyuki clung to his arm again, "Little Hikaru is growing up!"

"Shut up! Get off of me!"

Miyuki let go and patted his head, "I'm so proud of you Hikaru, you're becoming mature!"

He grabbed her hand, "Stop that!" then suddenly he blushed, "why have you been calling me Hikaru?!"

"Have I?" Miyuki tilted her head, "Oh well, it's nothing to blush about Hitachiin-san."

"I'm not blushing!" Hikaru shook his head, "and what, after calling me 'Hikaru' for a whole 2 minutes you're going back to 'Hitachiin-san'?"

"I'm sorry," she didn't sound it though, "should I call you Hikaru?"

"Yes, now get your shoe on," he waited until she slipped it on, then grabbed her hand, "let's head back."

They didn't get three feet before Miyuki tripped.

"Oops, sorry Hikaru-kun," she smiled sheepishly up at him, "It seems I can't walk."

"Are you just saying that so we'll take longer to get back?"

"No," she replied dryly, "I really can't walk."

She stood up shakily and grasped the wall for support. They made their way—albeit slowly—back to the lunchroom. One-third the way there, Hikaru lost his patience.

"Can you please hurry up?!" He glared at the hobbling teen.

"Of course I can!" she glared back, "I've only been going this slow cause you're _so fun_ to walk with!"

Hikaru turned away, then turned back.

"What!?" Miyuki exclaimed, "stop staring at me!"

Hikaru walked over to her and grabbed her around the waist.

"W-what are you doing?" Miyuki near shrieked.

"Shut up," and with that he lift her up and threw her over his shoulder. They walked like that back to the classroom (since lunch was almost over) with occasional 'put me down Hikaru! I can walk for myself!'

Upon entering the classroom, Hikaru sat her down on top of the desk they both shared. She glared up at him.

"Can I help you?" he asked, amused.

"You're such a loser," she pouted.

"Thank you," he smiled at her, then instantly it vanished, "you could be at least a little nice. I carried you most of the way here, and your not exactly light." That earned him a smack.

"I never asked you to carry me!" she pointed a finger at him.

"yea," he grabbed her extended hand, pulling her off the desk causing her to land on her bad foot and collapse into him, "but we didn't really have a choice now, did we?"

"That was really low," she picked herself up and hopped back up on the desk, "you're an annoying bastard, really."

"Nice to know you think so highly of me."

Miyuki was about to retort but the end-of-lunch bell rang signaling to the students to head back to class. Miyuki limped around the desk and sat on her side while Hikaru sat on his. The rest of the class entered slowly, including Kaoru and Kuri.

"Is this where you guys were that whole time?" Kaoru and Kuri sat down and turned around to face the two behind them, it was almost as if they practiced it.

"You guys are becoming awfully close," Kuri shot a look at Kaoru.

"Yeah, you guys are always hanging out together," Kaoru caught on quickly.

"Don't be stupid, guys," Miyuki looked at them, bored, "we're enemies,"

"An we intend to stay that way!" Hikaru added.

"Now, you're finishing each others sentences?" Kaoru teased, "Not good if you plan on staying enemies."

Hikaru and Miyuki looked at each other. They realized that attempting to explain was a lost cause. Both of them knew they were spending more time together than usual and didn't exactly like it, but they were doing it for someone important to them, so they would bear it a little longer.

**End Chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ouran High School Mix Up**

_Okay, so Kaoru didn't like Miyuki, but apparently he likes Kuri. How come I never catch these kinds of things? To tell the truth, I am a bit unsettled by this whole thing. For the longest time it had just been 'Me and Kaoru', I know the Host club, especially Haruhi, changed that. Though in the end it was still 'Just Us'. What would happen if—actually it's more of a' when', especially with Miyuki handling it—Kaoru and Kuri fell in love? What would happen to the Hitachiin Brothers? Would it break apart and never be the same? Would it be exactly like it was forever? (I doubt it, cause, you know, the awkwardness, but I can hope) I don't like this, I really don't like this at all, but I don't really have a say in it._

**Chapter 3**

Kaoru and Hikaru sat in the study playing a video game they got a few days ago. Kaoru was controlling the movements and Hikaru was controlling the attacks. Just as Kaoru was preparing to jump over an obstacle when a box popped up that read:

**PinkSakuraofDoom sent you and IM**

"Pink Sakura of Doom?" Hikaru read, it didn't sound like anyone in the host club, not even Haruhi.

"Ah! It's Kuri-chan!" Kaoru exclaimed, "Do you mind if I take this?"

"Uh, no" Hikaru replied, "go ahead."

Hikaru sat there and watched his brother chat with the girl that he apparently liked. He noticed his Kaoru looked a little unnerved.

"What'd she say?" Hikaru asked.

"Uh, what?" came Kaoru's intelligent response.

"You seem nervous," Hikaru explained, "what did she say to you?"

"She didn't say anything," Kaoru hit the enter button to send his reply to her last comment, "and I'm not nervous."

Hikaru didn't get it, but nodded anyway. Hikaru got bored of the conversation and headed to the kitchen to get a drink. It was a rather long walk to the kitchen and it was also very quiet. He entered the kitchen to find two maids in there. One was cleaning and the other seemed to only be in there by accident. Both looked up at him when he entered and bowed.

"Hello Hitachiin-sama," they both said at the same time.

"Ah, hello," he was two busy in his own thoughts.

"Can I get you something Hitachiin-sama?" the maid not doing something asked.

"Just something to drink, please," the maid looked mildly shocked at his uncharacteristicly absent attitude, "anything will do."

She bowed politely before rushing off to find the place that held the glasses. Hikaru pondered to himself. Kaoru was acting unusually weird around him now as well. Did he know Hikaru was helping to set him and Kuri up? Did he think that him being in love was a bad thing?

Hikaru pondered a good number of questions, each one gnawing at him more than the last. He finally stopped when the maid set the glass of purpleish liquid in front of him.

"I'm sorry Hitachiin-sama, but it was all we had," Hikaru nodded in thanks and left the two maids in a stunned silence.

He thought some more on the way back. It could be that he wasn't 'in love' with Kuri, but, instead, a mere infatuation. Hikaru shook his head at that thought, Kaoru wasn't one to act on just 'infatuation', so it must be something more.

He was about to open the door to their study when he heard Kaoru laugh. He looked through the door and saw Kaoru smiling brightly and typing enthusiastically into the keyboard. Hikaru waited a couple seconds before walking into the room as if he heard nothing.

Kaoru instantly quieted down and got mildly tense again. Hikaru stopped mid-step, the one making Kaoru nervous wasn't Kuri at all, it was him. He got depressed and in the strongest voice he could muster he said:

"I just came in to tell you that I'll be in our room," Kaoru looked up from the computer and smiled at Hikaru in understanding. Hikaru felt a little better but it quickly disintegrated as soon as he stepped outside the door for he heard Kaoru erupt in stifled laughter at something Kuri must have typed.

He walked down the hallway in a gloom. He passed a maid and silently handed her the glass, she nodded in understanding and once she was out of sight Hikaru broke into a run. He didn't stop until he got to their bedroom. He grabbed his cell phone and flopped onto the bed. He debated whether he should call or not. He thought of Kaoru again and dialed the number.

It rang a couple of times and then it was answered.

_'Moshi moshi.'_

"Hey…"

'_Hikaru?'_

"Yea…"

_'What's wrong? You sound upset…'_

"I…it's nothing," he was slightly shocked that she could tell but, in his current mood, didn't really care, "I…I just need some advice…"

'_You're asking ME for help?' _Hikaru cringed, _'With what?'_

"Well, it's just…about the…Miyuki, what I mean is…"

_'It's about Kaoru, right?'_

"How'd you know?"

_'You wear your heart on your sleeve.'_

"Any way," Hikaru wasn't too happy to hear that, "It's just…today, when we were in the study, he started IMing Kuri and got tense cause I was in there." Hikaru started to get sad again, "If that's what our relationship is going to be after this, I can't help you."

Hikaru just wanted to die. He was so close to breaking down, and while on the phone with his enemy! Then Miyuki replied, her voice kind, not a trace of the teasing tone he had imagined.

_'Do you want Kaoru to be happy?'_ What kind of question was that?

"Of course!" Hikaru was getting a little angry.

_'It's just a question Hikaru-san'_ she sounded understanding, which only made him madder, _'Kaoru wanted you to be happy.'_ That response struck Hikaru as a bit odd.

"What do you mean by that?!"

_'You were in love with Haruhi, right?'_ Hikaru turned red, _'Kaoru was as well.'_

"H-How did you know that?!"

_'Heart. On. Sleeve.'_ Hikaru smacked his forehead.

"Was it really that obvious?"

_'Not to most people, as far as I know, Kuri and I were the only ones that could tell. It made Kuri really sad for a while, cause she really liked Kaoru. I just thought you were gay.'_

"Gee…thanks…"

_'Then when Haruhi came out with the fact that she was a girl Kuri got even more upset, 'cause, lets just admit it, Haruhi is a really good person, not to mention really pretty.'_

"…Damn straight…"

_'…anyway, she got really happy when Haruhi-chan started dating Suoh-senpai'_ Hikaru sighed, _'Sorry, but anyway, throughout that whole thing, Kaoru was always putting you with Haruhi, except, I'm guessing, when you guys got in that huge, REAL fight.'_

"Yea, he told her," Hikaru gripped the phone tighter, "But look how that ended up."

_'Well, you could look at it that way or…Haruhi is happy with Suoh-senpai, right?'_

Hikaru thought about that. Now that she mentioned it Haruhi did seem to smile more and was generally a happier person.

"Yea…" Hikaru answered unsteadily, "and you think Kuri-chan can make Kaoru that happy?"

_'Only one way to find out.'_ Hikaru sighed again and smiled.

"I knew you'd say something like that," there was a laugh on the other line.

_'It seems to me, Hitachiin-san, that you know me too well,'_ he could just see her smirking

"Hi-ka-ru!" He whined into the phone, "Call me Hikaru or I'll call you Yuki-kichi"

_'You wouldn't…'_

"I believe I would, Yuki-kichi," Hikaru smirked.

_'Fine! Fine! Hikaru-san, I—'_

"-kun"

_'Ugh, Hikaru-KUN, I believe you are feeling better.'_

"I am" he adopted a sickeningly cute voice, "and it's all because of you Yuki-kichi!"

_'Well, since you seem to be all right I'll just leave…'_

"Goodnight, Yuki-kichi!"

_'I hate you…'_

"I love you too!" Hikaru realized what he said right as she hung up and turned a vibrant red.

"Stupid!" he said to himself as he shut his cell phone and banged his head on the wall. He fell back on the bed, clutching the cell phone to his chest. He contemplated the conversation he just had. He did, truly and honestly, want Kaoru to be happy, but he still wanted to keep this bond he still had.

Kaoru was important to him, the most important, but was his happiness even more important? Hikaru was confused, but nonetheless made his decision.

He would let go of Kaoru, little by little, and let him find his happiness.

**End Chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ouran High School Mix Up**

_So I knew things weren't exactly normal. And I knew they weren't going to get any better. So what? It didn't bother me. So I was in major denial. What of it? Even so, whether I deny it or not, there's always something to remind me. Like yesterday when two of my classmates commented thoughtlessly about how Kaoru seemed so much happier than he has been (since Haruhi started dating Tamaki, the part they knew but left out). They also commented on how I was happier. How I was smiling more and not looking so depressed. Happier my __ass__. How could anyone be happier knowing that all they love and cherish is happy (happier even) with someone else? Not me, not like you didn't know that already._

**Chapter 4**

Miyuki woke up with a started and mechanically dressed for school, her thoughts somewhere else. She buttoned up her blazer, remembering to curse the person who thought up those _hideous_ dresses.

She dashed into the hall and slid down the banister, a habit she gathered from constantly running late. She bumped into a butler at the end of the stairs and apologized profusely before speeding out the door to the end of the driveway where the driver was sitting in the limousine, seemingly knowing exactly when she would get up this morning.

She smiled at him half-heartedly but immediately regretted it when he stared at her, obviously concerned. She took no notice to this as they sped down the street, as fast as the speed limit would allow.

As she stared down at the white lines that marked the street, Miyuki couldn't shake this horrible thought that haunted her all night and into the morning.

It was as if, sometime soon, something would go terribly, unmistakably wrong.

Miyuki nearly flew out of the car as she raced the bell to make it to class on time. She ran over those grass lawns nobody noticed anyway, and narrowly avoided a head first dive into that overly disturbing fountain, but managed to gain a few scrapes.

She jumped into her seat thanking whatever higher power made the teacher later than usual. She breathed in once and sighed mildly loud, and she noticed Hikaru staring at her oddly.

"What?" she asked, sharper than she had wanted to. Hikaru looked slightly hurt.

"Nothing," he turned his head back to the front of the class, "I was just wondering what happened." He glanced and the scrapes on her knees.

"Oh, y'know," she felt a little guilty, "the usual."

"Lost another fight with the stairs? Honestly, what am I going to do with you?" he grinned.

Miyuki's breath hitched in her throat, "B-ban me from using the stairs?" she managed to choke out, with a sardonic smile.

Hikaru laughed but it was quickly silenced with the starting of class. They both smiled and focused on their schoolwork.

Lunch as nothing unusual, if you don't count the fact that Miyuki was helping Kuri pass out invitations for her mom's business party.

"I don't know either," Kuri said exasperated, "Mom said it would be more personal and less formal if we wrote them by hand and passed them out ourselves."

Miyuki sighed, but helped her friend find their classmates and upperclassmen whose families were invited. Miyuki shuffled through her stack and came across a surprising name.

"The Hitachiin's are invited?" Miyuki questioned innocently, this could work to her advantage.

"Yes," Kuri was instantly red and flustered, "Our parents are old friends and good business partners. They haven't been able to come for the past couple years though."

"I'm sure they will be able to come this year!" Miyuki desperately tried to cheer her friend up.

"Really?!" Kuri was instantly back to her cheery self, "do you honestly think so?"

Miyuki nodded swiftly and quickly handed out the rest of her stack before dashing of to find Hikaru, with a quick excuse to Kuri.

She ran down one hallway after another but couldn't find him. She decided to give up and slowed down to a walk. She turned a corner and spotted him, sitting on a windowsill, laughing with his brother and a couple other girls.

Miyuki's heart skipped a beat and she stopped mid step. She told herself over and over that the heart-skipping was for Kaoru, her unrequited crush. She noticed the other girls and felt her face heat up, but for a slightly different reason.

She whipped around the wall and stood breathing calmly to control herself. She knew that this emotion, jealousy—which she had experienced when she realized Kaoru liked Kuri—was unnecessary for the current situation. Before she could turn around to walk off an wait for him to be done, he called her.

"Miyuki? Was that you?" she cursed to herself and walked back around the corner and faced them.

"Ha! I had a feeling," Hikaru laughed, and the other girls—now recognizable as classmates—just glared.

Her heart skipped again when he laughed. She shook her head to compose herself.

"So what did you need, Miyuki-chan?" it felt like the girls' glare intensified as Kaoru said this.

"I…I had a question for Hikaru-san-"

"Kun," he corrected.

"-but I see your busy so I'll leave," she finished, with a little more malice than intended.

As she turned as walked off she could hear the whispers of the other girls, "You shouldn't worry about her Hikaru, Kaoru," the first one giggled. "She's nothing all to special," the second one snorted in disgust.

_Aw, whatever,_ she thought to herself and pictured those girls as annoying, twittering, birds. The kind people want to throw rocks at. That wasn't such a bad idea…

She was so into her thoughts that she jumped a foot when Hikaru grabbed her wrist and spun her toward him.

"What?" she asked, peeved.

"You said you had a question for me?" he grinned at her, and she fought to keep a blush down.

"This is absurd," she whispered to herself.

"What?" Hikaru now adopted a confused expression with a slight tilt of the head.

"Nothing!" Miyuki quickly became flustered again, "I'll tell you later, you seemed _busy._"

"But…" Hikaru looked slightly hurt at this, "I want you to tell me…please?"

Miyuki sighed and pulled the invitation out of her pocket, "will you guys please come?" Hikaru looked at her odd "F-for Kuri-chan! You know! She really wants Kaoru to come so I thought-!" Miyuki stopped mid sentence when Hikaru laughed and patted her head.

"Silly girl, of course we'll come!" Hikaru laughed a little more and his face became serious, "but," he ran his hand down her hair and twisted a short strand around his finger, "won't this hurt you?"

"Heh, not really," she reached up and pulled his hand from her hair, "It doesn't matter to me anymore, I let him go and he'll fade from my heart and mind, remaining nothing but a friend."

They stared at each other before Hikaru broke out into a wry grin.

"What happened to you anyway Hikaru-sa…kun," Miyuki changed the subject teasingly, "this is definitely out of character for you; acting so mature." She giggled but stopped when he looked serious again.

"Hanging out with you does things to me," he responded.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Hikaru grinned again and they both laughed on their way to class.

Miyuki arrived early on the day of the party to help with decorative planning and most importantly; get Kuri ready. She knew for a fact that if Kuri had no interest in these parties she would put no effort in her look.

After the decorating was being done, Miyuki dragged Kuri to her room.

"Okay Kuri-chan, you have two options," Miyuki spent no time beating around the bush, "You can either wear this dress I brought for you," Kuri cringed at the word 'dress', "or you can pick your own, that I approve of."

"Is there a third option?"

"No."

So after many rejections of 'not good enough' dresses they had decided to go with the one Miyuki brought.

"Now, this looks good on you," she made Kuri spin around in the chosen dress. It was knee-length and sakura pink. The top was v-neck and sleeveless while the bottom flared out from her hips.

Miyuki did Kuri's hair, but not being one to like much done to her, Kuri insisted that it be left down. She absolutely rejected the idea of makeup.

When the guests started arriving Miyuki went out to greet them, with Ikomoto-san, in Kuri's place. She didn't want Kuri running off when she was done greeting, so she locked her in her room. She greeted everyone with practiced enthusiasm while furtively scanning the incoming crowd for her subject. She spotted a flash of orange hair and left Ikomoto-san with a small apology.

"Kaoru-kun!" she sang as she pushed through the throng to greet the younger of the twins, "I'm so glad you could-!"

"You seem excited," It wasn't a question.

"Oh. Hikaru-kun, sorry, I thought you were Kaoru," she looked around, "where is he anyway?"

"Where'd all the enthusiasm go?" when she didn't answer he sighed, "he's over there," he nodded behind him and Miyuki look around him to see Kaoru talking to what appeared to be their chauffer.

"Oh!" Miyuki stared at him for awhile, a happy smile on her face.

"I thought you were supposed to be over him," Hikaru scowled at her.

"I am," at this point Kaoru spotted her and waved for her to come over, "you know I'm doing this for Kuri," she walked over to him. She glanced back at Hikaru but she nearly cringed at the expression he had on, it was almost like pure loathing. She shuddered.

Miyuki was not in a happy mood after that. The fact the Kuri refused to exit her room did nothing to improve it.

"I'm not leaving!" Kuri clung to her bedpost, "I look positively silly! I'm not going!"

Miyuki sighed for the umpteenth time. "Fine you be like that, poor Kaoru-kun will be all by himself tonight," she smirked when she saw Kuri snap her head up, "Or, maybe not, Kasawari-sans' daughters seemed to gain interest when I escorted him in."

"You invited Kaoru-kun?" she muttered while staring at the floor.

"Yup and you better go find him before Kasawari Kimiko-san finds him first."

"W-well, you went to all this trouble to get me ready and the maids did all that decorating…so I guess I'll go."

Miyuki followed Kuri out of her room to where the party was being held and walked with her across the room. Kuri glanced around nervously and quickened her pace. She was stopped by a couple of her cousins—whose names Miyuki could never remember—but Kuri looked as if she wished for nothing more than to be anywhere else.

Miyuki decided that it would be great for Kaoru to save her from this dilemma and quickly scanned the room for him. She pouted when he was nowhere to be found. Kuri made a swift hand motion be hind her back to tell Miyuki that it was all right for her to leave.

Miyuki took this chance to search for Kaoru. With some speedy walking and a few mumbled apologies; Miyuki managed to break through the crowd and spot Kaoru and Hikaru across the room sitting at one of the few tables set up around the room.

She would have been over there in an instant had she not noticed the Kasawari sisters, flirting with them from across the table. She sighed quietly and her hand met her forehead. This was definitely not good.

It was around that time that Hikaru noticed her and they both stood and walked over.

"Thank you for being a convenient excuse to escape that," Hikaru gestured to the girls left at the table.

"I didn't think I could take anymore of that!" Kaoru made a dramatic gesture of passing out.

Miyuki was about to respond but she heard the familiar sound of the band warming up and remembered her objective. "It sounds like the band is about to start playing…I wonder if Kuri found a partner yet…" she didn't make an effort to be subtle, but Kaoru didn't notice.

"Ah, maybe I should go find her, to make sure she's not alone," and he vanished into the crowd.

"That…" Miyuki stared after him in shock, "…was _too_ easy."

"Incredible…" Hikaru muttered.

"Yeah…" there was an awkward silence after that.

Miyuki took this moment to look at Hikaru. He had a dark blue plaid vest over a long sleeved white dress shirt. His pants were black and surprisingly similar to the school uniform pants.

Hikaru caught her stare. "What?" he asked with a confused expression.

"Well," Miyuki blushed and looked away, "I was just thinking how you look very nice tonight."

She snuck a peek at him but his face was turned away. She sighed, she knew what she said sounded weird. Hikaru looked back at her, grinning, with a slight pink tint to his cheeks.

"Thank you, Yuki-kichi, you look very nice tonight as well." Miyuki didn't bother to correct him, knowing it wouldn't do any good.

"So, what now?" Miyuki had to look up slightly to see his face.

"Let's go spy on them," Hikaru grinned down at her, a mischievous spark in his eyes.

"Won't that look a little conspicuous?" Miyuki though, "two people walking through a dance floor following a couple?"

"Then we'll blend in," Hikaru grabbed her hand, "dance with me?"

"Nice," Miyuki smiled, "smartest thing you've said since I've known you."

Hikaru glared, "Come on," he dragged her into the throng of couples dancing until they were within sight of their target.

They quickly and awkwardly got into formation to join the other dancers in the middle of the song. They spun around gracefully keeping half their focus on the dance and half on Kuri. Then they turned around and Miyuki caught sight of them.

"Oh shit," Miyuki cussed quietly. She just noticed just _who_ Kuri's partner was.

"What?" Hikaru asked in a anxious whisper.

Miyuki knew she could never forget who that was. His being exactly _that_ much taller than Kuri and the blonde hair that could blind someone.

"It's Maxwell," Miyuki cussed again, "He's dancing with Kuri, and she seems to be enjoying it."

Hikaru took a quick glance over his shoulder and matched Miyuki's cussing, "I _thought_ you said she liked Kaoru!" he hissed.

"I did!" she snapped, "and she does like Kaoru! That's her-" she trailed off, to a whisper, "speak of the devil…"

As she said this the dancers all turned again and Hikaru caught a glimpse of Kaoru; stomping across the floor to confront his crush and his apparent competition.

"…and the devil will come."

**End Chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ouran High School Mix Up**

_Wow, it's truly weird how, at one moment, everything is going perfectly fine; then in the next instant, it falls to pieces. I never truly understood this concept until I saw it happen right before me. It's truly quite frustrating. So much work was put into making everything perfect and one little mistake, a misconception, one wrong step, can send everything, and everyone, off balance. It just snowballs after that. And, worst of all, in the midst off all this confusion and chaos, a slight misinterpretation leads you to draw the wrong conclusion, and budding from that mix-up, you, as in yourself; not anyone else, ruin what could have been your own fate, all in a single instant._

**Chapter 5**

Hikaru and Miyuki had stopped dancing. It was as if time had slowed down as they watched, helplessly, as Kaoru picked a fight with Maxwell, Kuri's current dance partner, over the one girl he cared about, probably much more than those giggling idiots in their class (except for Haruhi of course), and in the same instant, he would probably lose her.

Hikaru stared in anger and shock as Maxwell stepped in front of Kuri to 'protect her' from this 'strange guy' he didn't know. He saw Kuri, trying to explain that it was a misunderstanding. Neither was listening to her, they were too involved in their quarrel.

Kaoru looked up at Maxwell; he was at least two inches taller than he was, his anger and jealousy showed in his eyes. Hikaru saw many of the dancers gossiping among themselves as they sent quick glances at the fighting boys and the one girl trying to keep it from getting physical.

Hikaru knew Kaoru far too well to know that if he really liked someone, he wouldn't give up, not with out a fight (or a valid reason, and seeing them dancing with someone else was definitely _not_ valid).

Hikaru saw it happen before he could comprehend it. Kaoru pulled back his fist to punch Maxwell—very uncharacteristic for him, but he was very livid. As he swung his hand forward to hit his target, Kuri jumped in front of Maxwell.

In the same instant Miyuki raced forward, shoving through the crowd, toward the fight. Hikaru hurried after her to keep her from interfering. Though she was trying to help, Hikaru knew she'd only make it worse.

He grabbed her when she stopped. He looked forward to see why; he saw Kaoru make impact, but with Kuri's palm.

"Don't you dare, Hitachiin Kaoru!!" They were close enough to hear over the loud orchestra music, "He hasn't done anything to you! There's no need for violence!"

Kaoru shook himself out of the shock of almost hitting Kuri, "He did do something to me!" he snapped. Both Kuri _and _Maxwell, looked shocked at this.

"Exactly," Maxwell spoke for the first time, "_what _did I do? This is the first time I've ever even met you!"

Kaoru looked away and didn't answer. He opened his mouth several times but said nothing. Finally he turned back and set his glare on Maxwell.

"You are an unwelcome variable in an otherwise perfect equation," his glare intensified, "you intrude in things in which you have no purpose! You wreck things which have no importance to you and kill the happiness of others!!" His voice got louder as he continued on. Hikaru had never seen him this mad, Kaoru was acting unlike the normal Kaoru, and Hikaru knew this wouldn't end well because of it.

"Why can't you just find your own life to kill!!" Kaoru's shout was silenced by a slap. It echoed in Hikaru's ears even though he couldn't hear it.

"Shut up, Kaoru!" Kaoru focus his glare on Kuri, but it softened when he saw her expression, "D-dammit," she choked back a sob, tears leaking their way down her face. Without another word, she ran away from the scene, obviously not wanting them to see her cry. Maxwell followed closely, Kaoru a ways behind him.

Hikaru felt Miyuki jolt away from him.

"Come on!" she dragged him with her, "we're going to find her!"

They ran out the door they saw the previous three exit through and ended up outside in a garden maze.

"Damn Ikomoto-san's taste in gardens! Damn it to hell!" Miyuki shouted as she raced into the maze. Hikaru, not wanting to be left out there alone, followed.

He heard a loud 'ow!' and turned a corner to find Miyuki rubbing her head.

"Are you all right?" he walked up to her and looked at her forehead, which had a large red mark on it. "What happened?"

She pointed to an empty walkway and Hikaru walked toward it. He didn't get very far before he smacked into a glass wall.

"Kuri's mom likes to mess with people," Miyuki said. They started off in a different direction, Miyuki ran ahead of him. Eventually the sounds of the party faded away as they got deeper into this hell of a maze. Miyuki ran around one particular corner and Hikaru sped up to get her back in sight. As he turned the corner he tripped over something on the ground.

"Hikaru-kun!" Miyuki shouted, "Get off! That hurt!"

Hikaru scrambled off the girl; who, afterwards, attempted to stand up only causing her to fall again.

"Dammit!!" she screamed in frustration, and she attempted to stand again. This time Hikaru caught her around the waist and lifted her arm around his shoulder.

"You sure have a thing for spraining you ankle," Hikaru laughed.

"Shut up," Miyuki mumbled, "where are we going anyway?"

"Down to the end of this corridor," Hikaru slowly helped her limp forward, "I think I see a conveniently placed bench."

"B-but," Miyuki protested, "we have to find Kuri!"

"No struggling," Hikaru said, "or I'll carry you again."

Miyuki shut up after that. They reached the bench and Hikaru helped Miyuki sit down.

"Great," Miyuki looked around, "Where the hell are we now?"

"Somewhere near the center for sure—" Hikaru stopped mid sentence and leaned back as far as he could. Just as he thought, he could hear footsteps approaching from the other side of the hedge. He listened closely to see if they would turn the corner—which would reveal the two teens sitting awkwardly on a bench—or go a different way.

Hikaru sat up with Miyuki, one hand over her mouth keeping her from protesting loudly—like he _knows_ she will—the other clamped tightly around her waist keeping her in front of him so she doesn't give them away.

"Kuri-chan!" Hikaru recognized this voice—slightly softer and higher than his—as Kaoru's, "W-wait up"

"Why should I?!" This voice—higher, gentler and slightly exasperated—must be Kuri's, "You were so rude to Maxwell, he must be intensely mad at you."

They stopped just on the other side of Hikaru and Miyuki. Hikaru could probably lean around the edge of the bush right next to him and be able to see them.

"Well…" Kaoru continued awkwardly, "what is he to you?"

"What do you mean by that Kaoru-kun?" Kuri, curious and dense as usual, asked.

"What is he to you?" Kaoru repeated with more force.

"Well, he's my—"

"Kuri!" Hikaru guessed this was Maxwell, "I was looking all over for you!" He spotted Kaoru, "oh, I guess _he _found you first…"

"Maxwell, be ni—"

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Kaoru got defensive again, Hikaru would have smacked his forehead if he was not keeping Miyuki from killing any hope they had left, "I can take care of her!"

"Kaoru don't—"

"What are you talking about?" they were ignoring her again, "You reduced her to tears! You really expect me to believe that?!"

"Would you guys SHUT UP!!" Kuri yelled, she was very unhappy with the current situation, "Kaoru, stop being mean to him! Maxwell, stop responding! You guys are not 7!!! We'll settle this in a mature manner, but here is not the place. Now, Kaoru, you will go that way," Hikaru concluded that she was pointing, "Maxwell, you will exit in that direction! I will go this way and we'll all meet up later! Okay? Good!"

Hikaru heard two pairs of footsteps receding, but one was advancing. He pressed himself and Miyuki back up against the hedge in a vain attempt to not be spotted. The owner of the footsteps rounded the corner and Hikaru was mad and relieved to see a shock of blonde.

Miyuki struggled free, "Maxwell! Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Yuki! Can't say I'm surprised to see you here," Maxwell smiled and caught sight of Hikaru, "Hey! Weren't you just..?" he motioned behind him to the area he just left.

"No. I'm his twin."

Maxwell nodded halfheartedly and turned back to Miyuki. "What was his problem, Yuki-chi? I didn't even do anything to him! The guy from back there, I mean."

"Uhm…" Miyuki struggled with a way to phrase it, "you can just say he's…territorial?"

Maxwell seemed to get it, somehow, "So…they are…?"

"No, not yet," Miyuki wore a sad smile, "but soon, hopefully." She caught the look Maxwell gave her and quickly added, "But no need to worry! He's really the nicest person I've ever met!"

At this point, Miyuki's ankle decided it wasn't done crippling her and collapsed, making her fall backwards.

"Yuki, are you alright?" Maxwell helped her up. Hikaru was there behind her instantly, supporting her again.

"We better go," Hikaru muttered, not looking Maxwell in the eyes, "we have to catch up with them."

Maxwell waved goodbye as Miyuki and Hikaru headed off in the direction Kuri went. Hikaru was silent for a while then broke the silence.

"So, did you know?" he asked feigning indifference.

"Did I know what?" Miyuki looked up at him, he was looking straight ahead.

"That she liked that other guy, Maxwell, along with Kaoru?"

"Huh?" Hikaru glared down at her, "that's idiotic, Hikaru."

"So you did know."

"I never said that!"

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," Hikaru glared at the path in front of them, "It looks like I'm against you now, Kitozawa-san."

"Woah, woah!" Miyuki stopped dead, or at least tried to, "why?!"

"I'm not going to help my brother love a two-faced cheat!" Hikaru yelled, "And I'm sure enough not going to agree with you on anything, you must be just as bad! If not worse!"

"I didn't deserve that, Hitachiin-san," Miyuki pulled away from him and stumbled ahead of him. Hikaru caught up easily.

"Since I'm a nice person, I'll carry you out, because of your ankle," Hikaru offered. Miyuki flipped him off. "Oh come on, I'm being nice!"

"Demon pigs will fall in love before I'll have anything more to do with _you!!_" Miyuki spat out venomously.

"Well, somebody's got to love Maxwell," Hikaru countered, and lifted Miyuki up over his shoulder and made his way onward, with the occasional protest from Miyuki.

Hikaru was caught by surprise when he rounded a corner and saw Kaoru. He jumped back to the safety of the hedge. Kuri entered a few minutes later and greeted Kaoru with mild surprise.

"Honestly," Hikaru whispered to half to himself, "What is it with these "listen-from-behind-the-hedge' episodes?"

"Well, Kaoru-kun," Kuri started up again, "I'll see you at the end."

"Wait!" Kaoru called after her, "before we confront Maxwell again, I need to know, what _is _he to you?"

"Kaoru…"

"Just tell me," Kaoru pleaded, "and I'll leave the both of you alone."

"K-Kaoru-kun," Kuri looked at him and sighed, Hikaru held his breath waiting for the fate wrecking answer. "Kaoru-kun, he's my…cousin."

Hikaru nearly fell over, Miyuki had to wrap her hands around his waist—as best as she could, in her position—to keep from falling off.

"Cousin…?" Kaoru repeated, as if this was a huge joke. Hikaru guessed Kuri had nodded in response because he heard Kaoru sigh with relief. Hikaru could not feel his twin's relief; he remembered what he had done.

"Why did you want to know Kaoru-kun?" Kuri asked with her usual innocence.

"Uhm…well, I" Hikaru felt Miyuki tense up, not even breathing, "you see Kuri…I, well," Hikaru decided that he would do Miyuki a favor; small, in comparison to what he'd done. "well, now or never, right? Kuri, what I really need to tell you is that—"

"Hey guys! We finally caught up to you!" Hikaru knew this was going against _everything_ they had worked toward, but he figured Miyuki would appreciate it anyway.

"Hikaru-kun! Yuki-chan!" Kuri exclaimed, then noticed their odd position, "What happened to you?"

Miyuki just mumbled. "She sprained her ankle trying to find you," Hikaru answer for her, "I carried her here despite her stubborn refusals."

"You're so nice, Hikaru," Kaoru stared at his twin knowingly. Hikaru grinned sheepishly hoping it satisfied him.

"Well, lets head back, Maxwell, must be there by now," they all headed off in the same direction. As promised, Maxwell was waiting at the end with a worried expression. Hikaru let Miyuki down as she fiercely reminded him of the extent of his kindness.

"I'm sorry," Kaoru apologized awkwardly, "It seems I had you all wrong." Maxwell smiled good-naturedly and glanced at Miyuki, who smiled back, happy with his understanding and approval.

"Ooh! I love this song!" Kuri suddenly shouted, "Kaoru! Come dance with me, please?!"

"I believe it's my job to ask," Kaoru caught the look from Kuri, "but I guess this is fine, too."

Maxwell sent one last amused glance at Miyuki before disappearing back inside as well.

"Hey," Hikaru said cheerfully, "Let's blend in again!" Miyuki looked at him confused. "Dance with me?"

"Ha!" Miyuki snorted, "It seems you're forgetting two things, 1) my ankle practically died—"

"I'll support you."

"—and 2, I want absolutely nothing to do with you, Hiatchiin-san."

"Humor me, okay?" Hikaru sighed, "Just this last time."

Miyuki sighed, "fine."

He led her out to the dance floor and they pushed through the crowd to find a spot. He spotted Kaoru and Kuri. He put his arm securely around Miyuki's waist and they moved in step with the others.

Luckily for Miyuki and her dead ankle the song slowed dramatically to a soft lullaby-like melody.

Hikaru and Miyuki watched as Kaoru wrapped his arms around Kuri's waist. Kuri responded by placing both arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. Kaoru looked shocked at this simple gesture.

Hikaru heard Miyuki giggle quietly next to him. "It seems like she's tired, she had a very dramatic day."

Hikaru put his arms around Miyuki's waist and she glared up at him. He stared back and eventually she sighed in defeat and put her hands on his shoulders, keeping them arms length apart. She went on watching Kaoru and Kuri sway gracefully to the music.

Hikaru huffed and tightened his grip around her waist, forcing her to move closer to him. Miyuki glared icily up at him.

"Just pretend you're actually enjoying this, okay?" Hikaru said dryly, then sighed when she turned back to the other couple, "I'm… really sorry… for what I did in the garden…"

Miyuki looked up at him again, shocked. "_You're_ apologizing, Hitachiin-san? Unusual, coming from you."

"I'm _really_ sorry though!" Hikaru exclaimed. Miyuki didn't reply.

At the end of the party Hikaru and Kaoru stayed until after all the guests had left. Kaoru said goodbye to Kuri and she walked with him to his car.

"They seem to be going well," Miyuki commented as she watched them leave. She looked up at Hikaru—who was being uncharacteristically quiet—and back to the door the couple had just exited through.

"_Too well,_ though," Hikaru said after a while, "I'm still getting used to it."

"Well, this is good bye," Miyuki turned to him.

"Yeah."

"See you on Monday."

"…yeah," Hikaru took a small step forward and then hesitated. After half a second, he hugged her quickly and stepped past her to walk out before she could say anything. As he left Kuri walked past him waving goodbye. He waved back and walked even faster to the car Kaoru was waiting in.

"Have fun?" Kaoru asked as soon as he got in.

"…yeah, of course!" Hikaru smiled, then cringed slightly at how horrible his lie was. At least Kaoru didn't seem to notice.

"That was the weirdest party I've ever been to!" Kaoru laughed. Hikaru stared out the window.

"Most definitely."

**End Chapter 5**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ouran High School Mix Up**

_That went well. Not really. Okay, it went half well, Kaoru and Kuri made up and they're happier than ever (not to mention __closer__ than ever). I know I was for the whole 'make my brother happy thing' and I still am, but it's unsettling. Anyway, the half that didn't go well? Me. I did something stupid and now I'm paying for it. But, all is well. Everything is going to be fine! …Okay… I was screwed. I messed up really badly and I don't know what to do about it. _

**Chapter 6**

It had been several weeks since the disastrous party at Kuri's house, and nothing seemed to be the same anymore. It made Miyuki very annoyed.

First, Kaoru and Kuri stopped chatting and joking as much as they used to. Miyuki was undecided as to which this was good or bad. Good being they moved past the 'friends' state and on to the 'awkward crush' state. Bad being they couldn't face each other after the party.

Second, Hikaru had been avoiding her (which she thought to be an incredible feat since they _sat next to each other_). She told herself she didn't care, but she had to admit in some far back access of her mind, that she missed him. His annoying quirks; such as his laugh, that impish smile, his erratic behavior, and his dry sense of humor, were all things Miyuki has gotten used to. She wasn't to sure as to _why_ she missed him, and his mannerisms, but she did know that school felt a bit lonelier.

Well, her problems and mental disarray would have to be put on the side for now, because, whether Hikaru was with her or not, she had to get Kaoru and Kuri talking again. That in itself would be difficult enough. For now.

"Hey Kuri-chan, Kaoru-kun!" Miyuki said as she joined them for lunch. It was still very much awkward.

"Hey Yuki-chan," they said almost simultaneously, without even noticing it. Oh yes, this was going to be difficult.

"So how are you guys today?"

"Fine," "Okay," came their replies.

"Anything new happen?" Both were silent.

"Hey, where's Hikaru-san?" Kuri suddenly asked.

"I don't know," Kaoru replied, befuddled, "he left instantaneously after class haven't seen him since." Both turned to look at Miyuki.

"What?"

"Well, I thought you might know, since…well…you two _have_ been spending a lot of time together…" Kuri trailed off.

"That's true," Kaoru added, "they're practically connected at the hip." They both shared a laugh. That was easy.

"Like at the par….ty…they were…hardly apart…" Miyuki would have smacked herself if it wouldn't have drawn unwanted attention. It was going so well to!

It hit her in that instant.

"Well, if you two are so _worried_ I'll go find him," she made and excuse to sound like an excuse to cover for her real excuse. She was confusing herself.

Both teens looked up at her, Kuri with a knowing stare, Kaoru looking half thankful and half smug. She walked off and she heard their whispers and laughs. She didn't care. They could laugh at her and Hikaru as much as they wanted as long as they were talking.

She wandered the halls aimlessly, she had no intention of _really_ _finding_ Hikaru, it was just something to get those two to talk again. Whatever Hikaru decided to do at lunch is his own problem.

Although, he did find her when she sprained her ankle, and carried her halfway to class. If he had thought like she is now, she would have been late for class on that day and possibly have gotten detention. Something her mom would not have liked.

She sighed audibly. She'd go look for him, _just_ to make sure he wasn't lying, crippled at the bottom of some abandoned staircase or something. The thought of that made her giggle slightly. For some reason she knew Hikaru wouldn't just lie there helplessly. He'd probably crawl up the stairs, or call out or something.

She wandered around a bit more. After a while of making no progress, she walked over to a window and sat on its ledge. She looked out the window and immediately wished she didn't. Two students were getting snuggly down by the disturbing fountain. It made her want to puke.

Just in time to save her from the sickening scene, two of her friends from her music appreciation class, Oliver and Mamoru, showed up to discuss the project that the class was currently doing.

"But honestly!" Oliver stated, "I'm not really interested in what some dead guy did some 200 years ago! I prefer to here about people who are still _living, _thanks!"

"That's the point of _Music Appreciation_," Miyuki laughed, "you've got to explore _all_ kinds of music. Even from dead people."

"But dead people don't make music!" Oliver protested, "They're DEAD!!"

"Idiot," Mamoru whacked Oliver on the head with a folder.

Miyuki laughed at their antics and leaned against the side of the windowsill. She saw a familiar figure staring at her from the end of the hall. She immediately sat up straight and stared back.

"Lookin' at your boyfriend, Yuki?" Oliver asked, following her line of vision.

"No, idiot," Miyuki responded, "just someone I know." She smiled slightly, "I'm gonna go say hi."

She walked swiftly down the hall. The figure noticed her approach and turned sharply to walk down the opposite hallway.

"Hikaru Hitachiin!" Miyuki yelled as she broke into a jog, "Don't you dare avoid me, again!"

Hikaru stopped mid-turn and leaned against the wall with his head turned away. Miyuki ran the rest of the way and came to a bounding stop in front of him.

"Ha!" she said triumphantly, "You're not getting away this time!"

Hikaru kept his head turned away.

"You're still ignoring me?" Miyuki walked around to look him in the face, "What's wrong?"

Hikaru turned his head away again. Miyuki was slightly surprised.

"Hey, what's the matter," Miyuki said taking note of his apparent bad mood, "Did I do something wrong?"

Hikaru tensed up and fixed a harsh glare on her.

"_You _think _you_ did something wrong?" Hikaru flared.

"Why are you standing at the top of a staircase?" Miyuki changed the subject.

"Stop that!" Hikaru grabbed her shoulders and forced her to listen to him, "How can you think you did anything wrong?"

"Well," she started, "you've been ignoring me for a while, or should I say avoiding?"

"I wasn't—…okay, so I was…" Miyuki's look was so severe that he knew it wouldn't do any good to deny it.

"Well, anyway…" She was interuppted by Oliver.

"Look out, Yuki!" he was running from Mamoru, who was very mad and carrying a very lethal folder.

Oliver bumped into Hikaru as he was skidding down the opposite hall (followed closely by Mamoru). Hikaru collided with Miyuki—who never had any balance in the first place—sending her backwards toward the staircase.

"A—aa—ah," Miyuki stuttered as she wobbled precariously at the top of the stairs. She starting fall backwards and attempted to grab the hand railing. Keyword: attempted. Meaning: she missed.

"Miyuki!" Hikaru yelled. He jumped forward and wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her close as they both tumbled down the stairs.

When Miyuki could think clearly again, she tried to recall exactly _what_ had happened. She remembered Oliver, the stairs, and falling. Lots of falling.

Thinking gave her a major headache. She inclined her head forward and met something warm and soft. Her eyes shot open as she remembered everything else.

As if to confirm her suspicions, Hikaru was the first thing she saw. He still had her pressed tightly to his chest, a fact which caused Miyuki to blush upon noticing it. She carefully removed herself from his protective embrace.

Miyuki sat up and looked down at him. He seemed to be unconscious. She sighed and hung her head. They were _so_ late for class. It seems like something just _wants_ her to get detention. She wondered if they would send someone to find them, since skipping at Ouran was NOT an option.

She contemplated her options. There weren't many.

She _could_ carry him to the infirmary, but she wasn't strong enough and didn't know which way the infirmary was from here. She _could_ kick him in the side until he woke up, but Miyuki was pretty sure he wouldn't appreciate that. She _could_ find a conveniently placed water fountain and dunk his head in it, but, dammit, there weren't any water fountains around here.

She looked back at Hikaru, still unconscious, steadily breathing on the floor. She suddenly got worried.

_If people pass out,_ she remembered from her inconvenient-at-the-time health class, _aren't they supposed to wake up within a few minutes?_

She wouldn't know, she barely passed that health class, but she was pretty sure.

"Hikaru?" she moved closer to him as she called out, "Hikaru? Are you alright? Can you hear me?"

He didn't respond.

"Hikaru?" she shook him, "Come on! Wake up!" Panic started to show itself in her voice, "this better not be some kind of sick prank! Wake up, dammit!"

She stoop up abruptly and glared down at him, "if this is a joke then I'll—" she trailed off.

"If this is a joke you'll what?" Hikaru opened one eye and looked at her teasingly.

"I'll kick your ass, you bastard!" Miyuki fumed.

"Can I get a head start? I mean I _was _just unconscious…"

Miyuki fell to her knees and Hikaru sat up.

"Were you really unconscious?" Miyuki asked, first looking at the ground then at him.

"Yeah, for a while, not long enough to miss your frantic shouting though. You were pretty worried," Hikaru playfully prodded Miyuki, who looked back at the ground.

"Idiot," she spoke quietly, "Don't do that again, you scared me."

Miyuki cursed. To herself, of course. But it was true, she _was_ worried for the redheaded idiot in front of her, and if she were completely honest with herself, she would say that she would miss him if he died. That's why she isn't honest with herself.

The concept hit her hard and fast.

Once they get Kuri and Kaoru together, they wouldn't hang out (planning their next actions, carrying out those actions, and cleaning up the messes caused by said actions) anymore. And Miyuki knew she would miss it.

She must have looked positively depressed since Hikaru felt it was necessary to put his hand behind her head and pull her against his chest. She felt a twinge of familiarity in their position, but was too shocked to figure out why.

"I'm sorry," Hikaru said after some time of silence, "I didn't mean to worry you."

"What's up with you? Did Kiri-san go around spiking drinks with her experiments again?"

"Just shut up and enjoy my brief maturity."

"Damn, it's only temporary?" Miyuki teased. Hikaru just glared.

Miyuki gave in and wrapped her arms around his waist and relaxed against him. She didn't know how long they sat like that but after a while Hikaru broke the silence.

"This actually feels kinda nice," he said awkwardly. Miyuki thought his speech sounded funny, but brushed it off.

"Hmm, I dunno," Miyuki responded, "it makes me tired."

"Then sleep," Hikaru offered.

"I can't, we still have to go to class," Miyuki started to move but Hikaru held her in place.

"Screw class, just stay here."

"Hikaru, we can't just sit here…"

"Besides I'm not so sure I can move that far, my head really hurts," Hikaru complained.

"Then maybe _you're_ the one who should sleep. Unless you think you can walk to the infirmary, wherever the hell _that_ is."

"Fine. Damn stairs, why do they have to be in the most inconvenient places?" Hikaru grumbled as he moved to lean comfortably against the wall. Miyuki followed him.

"Stop complaining," Miyuki said as she leaned on the wall. Hikaru laid his head on her shoulder.

"Hikaru, what are you—"

"Your shoulder is really comfortable," he snuggled closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Hikaru?" Miyuki squirmed in their new awkward position, "You're acting like you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk," Hikaru mumbled into her shoulder, "I'm perfectly sober."

Miyuki sighed, "I know, Hikaru. You don't drink, right?"

"Righty-right!" Hikaru pressed his lips to her hair, "Nn…you smell really nice, Yuki…"

"Don't do anything you'll regret, Hikaru."

"I won't," he smiled insolently and kissed her on the cheek, "I don't think I'll regret that…actually…" he put one hand under her chin and made her look at him, "…it felt pretty good," and he leaned closer.

Miyuki closed her eyes tightly and contemplated what to do. She wasn't exactly sure what she _should_ do, having never been faced with a situation quite like this before. She could push him away, but, if he remembered anything, it might leave him hurt or guilty, causing him to avoid her again. The logical thing to do would be to scream, but she didn't want everyone to think he was raping her, because technically he wasn't. So she just braced herself for what she knew was coming.

Except it never did.

She opened her eyes and realized that he had passed out again, except for the fact that he passed out on her this time.

She leaned back and let out a huge sigh of relief. She didn't have to do anything, but let his exhaustion take its toll, and for that she was grateful. She looked at him and shifted, moving him as well, to help him get more comfortable.

"You're pretty much screwed, you know that right?" she said, talking half to herself and half to him.

It was around that time that Kaoru and Kuri decided to find them.

"Kaoru! They're over here!" at least they were talking again.

"What the hell are you guys doing down there?!" Kaoru practically glided down the stairs.

"We fell down the stairs, I think Hikaru took most of the damage, and he passed out"

Kaoru was panic-stricken. Hell, anyone would be, when they find their sibling unconscious at the bottom of a staircase.

"Do you guys know where the infirmary is?" Miyuki asked.

"Yea, it's up the stairs and around the corner a ways…" Kuri directed with her hands.

"Oh dear god," Miyuki slapped her forehead, "you have _got_ to be fucking kidding me."

"Sorry, but no."

Miyuki face-palmed again and helped carry Hikaru up to the infirmary, where the kindly nurse helped them place him on a bed before she did a quick x-ray.

"It seems he has a slight concussion," the nurse said, comparing Hikaru's x-rays.

_I wonder…_Miyuki pondered, "Kumura-sensei? What are some of the symptoms of a concussion?"

"Well, internal bleeding can cause pressure in the sinus area," she pointed to herself to demonstrate, "and the swelling of the brain can cause a free flow of emotions… in other words…"

"Not being in control of your actions? Makes sense…" Miyuki thought out loud.

"Makes sense? What do you mean?" Kaoru asked, suspicious.

"Don't worry about it," and they didn't, but they did look suspicious.

They had to wait around for a while since Hikaru had not woken up yet. Miyuki used the time to retrieve her backpack from the now empty classroom, and copy Kuri's notes from the lectures she missed.

When Hikaru woke up, Kaoru was the first to see him. He was in there for a long time and when he came out, looking relieved of the stress he'd been harboring for the past hour or so, Miyuki and Kuri walked in. Kuri asked him questions about his condition, or just about his day in general. After a while he asked if Kuri would leave, and she walked out willingly throwing Miyuki that knowing look she seemed to have on a lot of recent.

"I'm really sorry, about…well, you know…" Hikaru wasted no time getting started.

"Don't worry about it," Miyuki smirked, "you get half way off the hook because you had a concussion at the time."

"So how do I get off the other half?"

"You're off more than half, because you _got_ that concussion protecting me from falling and getting a concussion of my own."

"What does that mean?" Hikaru would have done one of those cute little head tilts had he not been in an infirmary bed.

"It means that I have to find a way to make it up to you."

"I'm sure you can do it," Hikaru said sarcastically.

"Better than you can, I'm sure," Miyuki replied smugly.

"Oh, shut up."

**End Chapter 6**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ouran High School Mix Up**

_I just got discharged from the hospital a couple of days ago. Concussions? Yea, not fun. Not to mention, while getting over said concussion I had the constant reminder that I acted like a total ass and got away with it. So, while I was trying to make up for being an ass the first time, I made myself a bigger ass instead. Miyuki didn't even care either. She even said that __she__ had to make it up to __me__. And, to make it worse, I think I almost… almost… __kissed__ her! She let me off because I had a concussion; she just brushed it off! I will __never__ understand women. _

**Chapter 7**

Hikaru woke up extra early. Okay, not really, but he got up earlier than usual. He wasn't sure why he got up at this ungodly hour—4:00, on a Sunday—but he figured he might as well do something productive.

He exited his room—yes, _his_ room since they no longer shared a room due to their 'attempt to stay twins while living separate lives' plan. He didn't make any attempt to be quiet, since their regular employees weren't here yet and his parents' room was across the house (why? He didn't know). The walk gave him time to contemplate what to do with his extra time.

Once down at the kitchen, Hikaru grabbed a leftover meat bun and heated it up quickly. He carried it in his mouth while he crossed the kitchen, trying to remember where the cups were.

It didn't take him long to find them, and he was too proud to admit that he had to look around a bit to find the refrigerator, even if it was only for a second.

So, carrying his juice in his hand and his bun in his mouth, he made his way back to his room. On the way there he figured he should check his e-mail—since he hadn't in _so_ long—so he changed his course for the study. He was happy, it gave him something to do.

He sat down in his nifty spinny chair and turned on the computer. As he waited, he finished off his breakfast. He opened the Internet and spun around in his chair while it opened up his e-mail. He logged on to the account that he and Kaoru shared—one of the few things they _still_ shared, like their mother for example—since it was the one used most.

There wasn't much new stuff; a few family announcements (half of which, he was embarrassed to find out, had already past), a couple of Kaoru's e-mails to himself, reminding him to do stuff that he forgot about anyway, and one—though it wasn't especially new—from Tamaki. He decided to check that one first, since Tono hardly ever sent e-mails.

**Valued Host Club Members,**

**We will be taking a mandatory club outing to the beach on the last Sunday of summer, before fall and winter officially begins.**

That part sounded like Kyouya, Hikaru thought, as he read the rest.

_Feel free to bring someone, since Kyouya will be bringing someone anyway! The more the merrier!_

That was Tono. For sure.

**Anyway, please note that you must come, but you are not required to bring someone.**

_It's just funner that way._

**Please be on time.**

The e-mail ended with that. Hikaru wondered who it was that Kyouya was bringing. A relative? A girl? Who!? He would know when they went on the trip. He counted in his head how many days he'd have to wait.

"SHIT!" he yelled, knowing that no one in the house would hear him.

He should have known. With his luck, he should have totally seen it coming, but he didn't. Which was why he was spazzing over the fact that the last Sunday of summer was today. Maybe that's why he woke up so god dammed early. His body somehow knew that he needed to check his e-mail. Creepy.

He debated whether or not to call and bail. He sided against it. When they said 'mandatory' they meant mandatory. Or, 'come or we'll find you', like they had to do so many times with Haruhi.

He was surprised to find that thinking of Haruhi (his unrequited love—if you could call it that) didn't hurt him anymore. At least, not nearly as much as it used to. He wondered why.

He remembered the problem at hand and opened up a reply box, wrote that they'll be there and sent it.

He stared at the computer for a few seconds and got an idea. He opened a new email box and sifted through the address list. He was pleased to see that they had her address, he didn't bother to think about why.

_Want to go with us to the beach today?_

He attached Kyouya's directions and times, then sent it. He waited a few minutes and then refreshed the computer. To say he was surprised to see a reply there would be an understatement.

'What the hell is she doing up at 4:30 on a Sunday checking e-mail?!' he countered his own thought with the fact that, he too, was up at 4:30, checking e-mail. He opened the reply:

Uhm…sure. I'll be there.

Kuri Ikomoto was definitely coming.

Hikaru stood outside Kaoru's door and pondered the best way to wake his brother up. He knew Kaoru was generally a heavy sleeper, but he had recently been developing a habit of waking up to certain noises. Though Hikaru didn't know what those noises were, it didn't mean he was going to give up.

He walked up to the door, opened it slightly and took a step back. He aimed carefully, took a quick step forward and kicked the door as hard as he could. It flew open and hit the opposite wall with an echoing 'BANG'.

Kaoru fell off his bed in surprise.

"What the hell was that for?!" Kaoru yelled from his spot on the floor.

"Just making sure my cute little brother is ready for our big trip today," Hikaru added insult to injury.

"What trip?" Kaoru's grogginess caught up with him and he yawned. "I didn't know we were going anywhere."

"We weren't, until about," he looked at Kaoru's bedside clock; 7:34, "three hours ago, when I checked our e-mail."

Kaoru looked at the clock as well. "You checked e-mail at 4:34 in the morning?"

"4:00, and I was bored, okay?"

Kaoru waved it off, not really wanting to know. "That's fine, but what trip?"

"Ah," Hikaru remembered his reason for waking him up, "The host club is holding a mandatory trip to the beach today."

"What?!" Kaoru attempted to get up but was tangled in his sheets and ended up falling over. "Ow…"

"Nice, now get ready, we leave at ten."

Two hours, one quick breakfast and a whole hell of a lot of last minute packing later, Hikaru and Kaoru walked out to where a black SUV was waiting. Hikaru took Kaoru's bag and told him to get in. Hikaru walked to the and loaded their bags.

He walked to the drivers seat and got in.

"Hikaru," Kaoru said from the passengers seat, "you're driving?"

Hikaru looked at the steering wheel in front of him. "I guess so."

"Do you even know how to drive?"

"Now I do." Hikaru grinned at Kaoru's panic-stricken face, "just kidding. I actually do know how to drive. Shinji-san has been teaching me, and I even got a permit!"

"Since when?" Kaoru was more puzzled than anything.

"Last month…. I think…" he started up the car, fastening his seatbelt in the process, and drove carefully down the road.

He drove a little ways, glancing at the slightly familiar scenery—having only been down this road once—before Kaoru broke the silence.

"Hikaru, this road seems familiar, but I don't think this is the right way."

"Don't worry Kaoru, this is the right way," Hikaru smiled.

"But…the beach is that way…" he pointed in the opposite direction from where they were going.

"We have a stop to make first," Hikaru grinned this time, from his excitement.

After a few miles of silence they pulled up to a mansion that looked similar to theirs but with more shrubbery. Kaoru recognized it immediately.

"Hikaru! Why are we at Kuri-chan's house?" Kaoru was surprised, to say the least.

"Because, dear brother, you decided to invite her, at 4:30 in the morning, to a Host Club outing."

"But I didn't—"

"I know." Hikaru pulled up to where the driveway stopped and got out. "You stay here, I'll be right back."

Hikaru walked up to the door, he felt very proud of himself. Now Miyuki couldn't say that he didn't do anything to help the cause—the one they have been working on for about 3 months, almost since the beginning of school.

He looked back at the car where Kaoru had moved to the back seat, so Kuri wouldn't have to sit by herself. That dejected him a little. Miyuki had better appreciate this.

He knocked on the door and waited. He heard a thud and rushed steps followed by some muffled concerns. After a few minutes Kuri opened the door and smiled when she saw him.

"Wow, it's exactly 10 o'clock!" she smiled again, Hikaru saw why Kaoru fell in love with her.

"Kuri what—" Miyuki appeared behind her but stopped mid sentence when she saw Hikaru.

"I hope you don't mind," Kuri said apologetically, "I asked Miyuki to accompany me."

"Not at all," Hikaru smiled. He was surprised to see Miyuki but he wasn't entirely against her coming. "We should go to the car."

Kuri skipped ahead, obviously very excited, leaving Miyuki and Hikaru behind.

"Mind explaining?" Hikaru asked, not looking at her.

"Kuri was nervous about coming and practically begged me to come with her. Why? Do you not want me to come?" Miyuki looked up at him.

"No! It's not that!" Hikaru frantically reassured her, "I was just curious, and why are you taking that kind of attitude? Did you not what to come?" He turned the questioning onto her.

"Well kind of," Hikaru felt hurt, but only slightly, "She just told me that she was invited to the beach and didn't want to go alone, she didn't tell me that you invited her. That changes things a bit."

"I didn't invited her, Kaoru did." Hearing her say that made him feel a little happier.

"Okay, sure." Hikaru knew she didn't believe him, but it didn't matter as long as she didn't tell.

As they approached the car Hikaru bounced in front of her to open the passenger-side door. She watched him with an amused expression—which Hikaru found, to his surprise, very cute—whilst she climbed into the front seat. Hikaru walked around the front of the car and watched as her expression turned incredulous. He opened the door.

"_You're_ driving?" Miyuki was stunned

"That's what I said!" Kaoru stated from the back seat

"Yes, I suppose I am." Hikaru grinned; her expression pleased him.

"_You can drive_?!" was the next question.

"I believe that knowledge would be required to be driving us to the beach today, Yuki-kichi."

"Don't call me that."

"Then get safe, shut up, and enjoy the ride," and he started up the car.

They drove in silence for a while, no one willing to risk looking stupid trying to start up conversation, so they all stayed quiet. Hikaru was never one for silence, and each passing minute made him more uncomfortable. He squirmed in his seat from the distressing aura floating around in the car.

"Stop fidgeting or you'll get us in an accident," Miyuki said not looking away from the panorama of houses and vegetation outside her window.

He sat still, but it didn't last long. In an attempt to get rid of this horrible stillness, he pushed the radio button. He forgot what his first preset was, but he didn't have time to remember before Hikari started blaring throughout the car. He would have moved to change it, had he not seen Miyuki, mouthing the words as she stared out into the endless foliage.

"You know this song Yuki-chin?" Hikaru asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Yea, I heard it on a game I played and I can't forget it now."

"I see."

The ride didn't get much better after that, but at least they had Japanese pop music to fill the silence. Even if it didn't do much.

They arrived at the beach some time later. As they pulled up, Hikaru noticed that they were the last ones; Kyouya was definitely going to chew them out for being late. They all got out and pulled their stuff from the trunk.

Tamaki greeted them enthusiastically. He introduced himself and the entire Host Club, including the people Miyuki and Kuri already knew.

"Now, fair maidens, you know who we are, please, give us the honor of knowing your name?" Tamaki bowed deeply.

Hikaru almost laughed out loud when Tamaki took Kuri's hand—as a signal for her to go first—and she yelped, from surprise, and jumped backwards into Kaoru, who blushed crimson.

"I-I'm sorry, Kaoru-kun!" Kuri jumped away from him, her cheeks painted red as well.

"Don't worry about it." Kaoru looked at the ground.

Hikaru watched as realization spread over the members of the Host Club, including Tamaki. Not even he wasn't that slow.

He saw Miyuki stifling a giggle as all of this unfolded. She stepped forward.

"I'm Kitozawa Miyuki, and this," She pointed to the flustered Kuri," is Ikomoto Kuri."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kyouya said with his scary smile on. "Oh, and of course, you don't know Akari-chan." He motioned to the brown-eyed girl behind him.

Miyuki gave a small wave but looked incredibly uncomfortable doing so. Akari waved back and looked away, as if she was just as uncomfortable as Miyuki seemed to be. Hikaru had to keep himself from laughing, Miyuki usually never looked awkward, and now he knew what made her like that.

After a lecture from the Shadow King about punctuality, the club members led their visitors to the spot they normally occupied during their visits here (which, Hikaru noticed, were becoming increasingly frequent).

The spot was fairly secluded—there was only one way to get there—and had a nice feel to it. The sand was fairly level and very fine, and if you walked down a ways, there was even a small first aid station (this being Kyouya's family beach). Kuri spun around blithely in the sun and Kaoru ran after her. Kuri spun and spun until she tripped on something—a stick probably—hidden in the sand. She fell mid spin and landed in a sitting position in the sand. Kaoru, who was following her and not paying attention, tripped over her and landed stomach down right in front of her.

They both started laughing and slowly stood up.

"They're so cute," Hikaru looked to Miyuki, who was next to him, "They act like little kids." She adopted a different expression. "It would be nice, to find someone like that. Like, you could act as silly as you wanted and they would join you, without a negative thought."

Hikaru looked at her, she looked out at Kaoru and Kuri who were walking back to put their stuff down. She followed their movements until they walked back out to where the ocean started.

She looked up at him. "What?"

"Nothing." He walked away ask Kaoru and Kuri to join a beach volleyball game.

They both agreed enthusiastically, and soon they had a full blown game going when Tamaki and Hani and Mori joined in. Hikaru hit the giant beach ball over the net toward Tamaki. He jumped and hit it back over and Hani climbed onto Mori's shoulders to hit it back.

Kaoru missed the ball—it was just out of his reach—and it rolled away from him. Kaoru turned around and chased it. It slowed to a stop, and a tall blonde guy picked it up.

"Is this yours?" the guy asked.

Kaoru took the ball from the guy. "Yes, thank you…." He looked up at the guy, "Maxwell-san?!"

Hikaru nearly died on the spot. What was he doing here?!

"What are you doing here, Maxwell?" Kuri asked the question on his mind.

"I was invited by the Ootori family, our families formed an alliance some time ago," he looked around and noticed Kyouya. "Hello, Ootori-san." he waved politely, "Hello, Akari-san."

"You know Akari-chan?" Hani asked.

"Not really," he responded, "she's just been at a couple of the Ootori's business gatherings."

"This is quite interesting," Tamaki went into his thinking pose, "well, if you are a friend of Kyouya and Kuri-hime, then you are welcome here!"

"Want to play volleyball with us?" Hani asked.

"Why not?"

"Okay," Kaoru said, "You're on my team though."

At the end of the game it was 23 to 17, Hikaru's team won, of course, having Mori and Hani, the most athletic people in the host club, on his team. The group dispersed after the game. Hani, followed by Mori, ran ahead of Kuri and Kaoru toward the ocean. Kuri and Kaoru raced to the water. Kaoru won, being the faster of the two. Tamaki picked up the discarded beach ball and walked over to where Haruhi was sitting.

Haruhi, not being one to abandon someone, gave Tamaki a sign telling him to give her as minute. After he had walked off toward Kyouya and Akari, Haruhi resumed talking to Miyuki, whom Hikaru just noticed was there.

Hikaru stood there stupidly watching as Miyuki seemed to be telling Haruhi a story. After she finished she pulled her knees to her chest and laid her head down in defeat. Haruhi, blunt and sympathetic as ever, patted her on the back and said something that made Miyuki jump up in surprise, her face red, and wave her hands back and forth defensively. Haruhi laughed and noticed Hikaru standing there. She waved and said something to Miyuki, who looked up and swiftly looked away.

Tamaki was getting anxious, so Haruhi stood up and followed Tamaki to the ocean where everyone else (minus Kyouya, Miyuki and Akari) were playing. As they walked past Hikaru, Haruhi stopped.

"Haruhi?" Tamaki asked, having long dropped all honorifics when concerning Haruhi, or anyone else in the club for that matter.

"Go ahead," Haruhi urged, "I'll be right there." Tamaki nodded and unwillingly walked to the water, glancing back a couple times.

"He's so over-protective," Haruhi sighed, and Hikaru realized that she must have been talking to him.

"Well, what can you expect?" Hikaru shrugged awkwardly. Haruhi stared out at the ocean without responding.

"What do you think of Miyuki-chan?" Haruhi said suddenly, still staring at the ocean.

"What?" Hikaru choked out.

She turned sharply to look at him. "What is she to you?" He stared at her incredulously, he couldn't think of an acceptable answer, he could barely think at all! What was she trying to imply?

Haruhi sighed again. "Doesn't it feel familiar to you? The way you are with her?" She looked back at Miyuki and then back at Hikaru.

"I really, honestly, have no idea what you're trying to say." Hikaru fidgeted under the dubious stare she gave him.

"Okay," she said finally, "forget I said anything." She walked over to Tamaki who waited for her a ways away, not willing to go very far without her.

Hikaru strode over to where Miyuki sat, half in a daze. He sat next to her under a green and black umbrella. She didn't notice him. Both sat in silence thinking to themselves. Hikaru tried to work out what Haruhi meant. He could always ask Kaoru, but he knew Kaoru would laugh at him for 'being slow'.

"That's insane!" Miyuki blurted out.

"What's insane?" Miyuki yelped and flinched. Hikaru couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't scare me like that!" Miyuki picked up a handful of sand and threw it at him. It hit him in the chest. He kept laughing.

"No really," he said when he calmed down, "what's insane?"

Miyuki looked away. "Nothing important," Hikaru could barely hear her, "just some stuff Haruhi said."

Ah. So Haruhi had gotten to her too. This made Hikaru wonder what Haruhi said to her. Was it along the same line as what she mentioned to him? He didn't want to ask, and had a feeling that she wouldn't answer if he did.

"So, why aren't you in the water?" Hikaru asked, hopeful for a break in the silence.

"Don't feel like it." There goes that idea. Though, he wasn't one to give up easily.

"Why?" he urged on.

"Not sure." Hikaru knew that she was lying.

"You lie horribly," he said. He realized that she wasn't wearing her swimsuit, just shorts and a white tee shirt. "Could it be…" he pretended to think, "you don't feel confident in your swimsuit."

"It not so much confidence as it is comfort."

"I was right?" Hikaru thought up a plan, hopefully she would cooperate. "You're not comfortable wearing a swimsuit?" Miyuki nodded. "Why, Yuki-chan?"

"No one wants to see me in a swimsuit, trust me on this one," really, she made this too easy for him.

"I want to see you in a swimsuit, Yuki-kichi," which wasn't a total lie, he knew she was cute.

"You're just saying that so I'll get in the water." Ooh, caught.

"So?" He smirked and stood up, offering his hand, "please?"

"Okay," she gave in and grabbed his hand, "since you went to so much trouble. You go ahead, I'll be there in a second."

Hikaru was overjoyed, and half skipped, half ran toward the ocean. When back in his right mind, he looked behind him to make sure she was actually coming. He saw her, facing away from him, pulling her white shirt over her head, revealing a black one piece with blue swirls at the top. She haphazardly folded her shirt and quickly pulled off her shorts.

As she turned around she spotted Hikaru, who just realized that he was staring. He found himself blushing and turning away, and he truly had no idea why.

"Watching me strip? You perv." She hit him playfully on the arm. He didn't bother to deny it; she had caught him. Though he wouldn't call it 'watching someone strip'.

As they neared the ocean, Miyuki began tugging self-consciously at her swimsuit.

"Stop fidgeting, " Hikaru ordered, "you look fine." She gave one last tug and her left strap and then clamped her hands together in front of her. Hikaru sighed at her modesty, but at least she wasn't some kind of slut.

When they reached the edge of the waves, Hikaru pulled her forward so she couldn't skip out. A large wave hit them below the knees and Miyuki squealed form the icy sting of the water.

"It's cold!"

"Stop whining," Hikaru teased, "you'll get used to it."

Before Miyuki could even ask how, Hikaru picked her up and carried her until he was waist deep. Then he dropped her.

She resurfaced, coughing and wiping water from her face, the water hit her right below the chest.

"That was so cruel, Hikaru Hitachi—" Another wave hit her mid sentence, raising the water level to right at her collarbone. She clung to Hikaru so the undertow wouldn't pull her in.

Hikaru laughed and picked her up again. "Fine, we'll go back into shallower water." He put her down where the water only went to her shins.

"It's not that I'm scared of it," she explained, "I just wasn't expecting it."

It was around that time that Tamaki called them over to join the others in the waves. They waded over to the group and watched as they demonstrated what they were doing, which was basically just diving under waves.

After they did that for a while, then a couple of the guys dragged over three surfboards, stunning everyone else.

'When did you get those?!" Hikaru yelled.

"Eheh…" Tamaki grinned sheepishly, "I've had these for a while, they hadn't served a purpose until now."

Hikaru swore he heard Haruhi mutter 'rich bastards' under her breath.

"So, whose first?" Tamaki looked around at the group, "I guess I'll be one then, but we still need to more."

"I guess I'll go." Maxwell stepped forward.

Miyuki raised her hand. "I volunteer, Hikaru." She took on of the boards and handed it to Hikaru

"What?!"

"Don't worry Hikaru!" Miyuki clamped her hands together, placed them under her cheek, and tilted her head a bit, "I'm sure you can to it!"

Even though he knew she was totally being sarcastic, he felt his face heating up. He took the board and whispered to Miyuki

"You'll regret picking me, Yuki," he said sweetly, with a hint of smugness, "I'll show you that I'm the best damn surfer here."

He walked deeper into the water along with Maxwell and Tamaki. He had never surfed before, but it couldn't be that hard. They mounted their boards and paddled out. As they saw a wave forming, they turned around and got ready. Hikaru saw Miyuki waving excitedly, just like a little kid, so he waved back. Next to him, he saw Maxwell wave as well. He still didn't like Maxwell to much.

As the wave hit, the trio attempted to stand up, only Hikaru and Maxwell managing to pull it off, though it didn't help much since Hikaru fell over immediately afterwards. When he resurfaced he didn't bother looking to see whether Maxwell made it or not, he just trudged to the shore.

"I believe," Miyuki started when Hikaru got close enough, "in America, that's called a 'wipe out'."

"Shut up."

Maxwell walked up from behind him. "Well, that was fun!"

"God dammit, Maxwell!" Miyuki glared teasingly, "Is there anything you're not good at?!"

"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I wouldn't tell you," Miyuki stuck her tongue out at him as he passed her to go talk to Kuri.

They did that, not to mention a little bodysurfing and lots of splashing, for an hour or so before Hani (followed by Mori), Kuri, Maxwell, and Hikaru got tired. Kuri sat at the edge of the waves watching the three still in the ocean and Maxwell sat with her. Hikaru, Mori, and Hani went to build something epic looking in the sand.

They piled sand upon sand, flattened it with their hands and tried to make it tall. Sadly, all they got from their efforts was a spiffy looking hill. They all sat around their spiff-hill, digging pointlessly when Kuri ran up, panicked.

"Hikaru-kun! Miyuki-chan, she…she got pulled past the waves! She can't—" Kuri barely had time to finish before Hikaru was running past her toward the ocean. As he approached he saw Maxwell already running into the waves and Kaoru and Tamaki trying to swim past them.

He spotted her among the endless blue, her head bobbing precariously, as if wondering if it should stay above water or not.

Hikaru could hear Hani and Mori's steps behind him and he took off into the water. With each crash, the waves got bigger, bringing the tide in. Hikaru moved through the water as fast as he possibly could. He began swimming and dived under just as a wave, that swept Tamaki back behind him, broke. As he resurfaced he was hit with a counter wave, that knocked him senseless for a second, but even in that second, he was swept back right to where he started.

He was frustrated. He ran as far as he could and began swimming again. Right as a big wave came toward him he to a deep breath and dove under. The wave tried to push him back toward the shore but he pushed against it as hard as he could, he let the undertow drag him a little and he kept swimming. He was running out of air. He kicked harder and tried top propel himself forward. He had to resurface. He took in a big gulp of air and was hit by another wave. This one turned him around, but he kicked backwards, against the wave.

As he resurfaced again he realized that he had gotten past the waves. He looked around and saw Miyuki; she looked like she could fall asleep at any minute. He fell a bit of relief rise in his chest; he wasn't that far away!

Almost instantly that small sliver of relief was gone when Miyuki passed out and fully submerged. He cursed out loud and dove under. He couldn't see where she was so he had to open his eyes (which hurt). She was sinking fast; he kicked harder, determined.

He reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling them both upward in the process. They resurfaced and he pulled her up against him. He held her tight and noticed that she wasn't making any sound. Just as he was about to panic she coughed up water and clung tightly around his neck before she slumped limply on his shoulders.

He hugged her tightly not wanting her to somehow slip out of his grip and get pulled in by the ocean again.

'What is she to you?' Haruhi's words earlier that day echoed in his mind, and he wondered why they chose now to reappear. 'Doesn't it feel familiar to you?' Hikaru tired to shove the words from his head concentrating on keeping them both above water, 'The way you are with her?'

As realization dawned on Hikaru, he noticed how warm Miyuki was—despite her extended stay in the water—how her waist curved under his hand, how pronounced their height difference was now that he had grown some, and, most importantly, how she somehow became the girl he was unexplainably and irreversibly in love with.

He kicked gently—trying to keep both of them above water—toward the beach. When he reached an area he could stand, he lifted Miyuki—still clinging to him, even while unconscious—and carried her bridal style to where the Host Club stood, ready to help.

"There's a First Aid station down that way, Hikaru," Kyouya pointed it out for him.

"Would you like help?" Akari offered. He shook his head and walked off in the designated direction.

The First Aid Station wasn't too far off and was well equipped. Hikaru laid her down on a bench and checked her vital signs, like they taught in heath class. She was fine, he sighed in relief.

He sat there for a little while, before going to the conveniently placed sink and filling up a paper cup with tap water. He figured that if she had swallowed any of the sea water that would make her dehydrated, and he figured that being dehydrated and unconscious wasn't a good thing.

He tilted her head back and carefully poured the water slowly into her mouth, hoping she wouldn't cough it back up. She drank the water without a problem and made a face (Hikaru figured the water tasted bad) before slipping back into that state that made her look almost dead.

He stared at her for a while and contemplated what might have happened if she didn't cough up the water (back when they were in the ocean) and start breathing again. Hikaru didn't want to think about it any further, but he thought that it might have led to CPR.

After he was finished he carried her back to the others finding that they had packed everything up.

"We decided to leave," Kaoru explained, as he and Kuri carried their stuff up to where they parked, "and I'm not letting you drive, by the way. You're so stressed; you'll get us killed. So I called Shinji-san and told him to bring someone to drive the car back."

When they got up there, Shinji was already waiting.

"I told him to drive it back, so he didn't have to wait," he said, when they asked where the other guy was. "Where am I going first?"

"My house," Kuri gave him the address and he started up the car. "She'll stay at my house 'till she wakes up, her parents aren't home, I believe," Kuri said to Hikaru and Kaoru.

It was a silent drive back. Hikaru didn't attempt to break the silence, he just held the unconscious girl next to him like his life depended on it. Hell, it probably did.

When they pulled up to Kuri's house, a young looking butler came to carry Miyuki up to the house even though Hikaru insisted he could do it. Kaoru finally convinced him other wise, when he almost stumbled out of the car.

He didn't bother with formalities when he got home. He went straight to his room and collapsed on his bed. He had some serious self-analysis to do.

**End Chapter 7**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ouran High School Mix Up**

_Remind me to never try and understand myself again. Ever. It kinda hurts, the whole, 'who am I and what am I __really__ thinking' takes a toll on your mind, ya' know? Well, either way, I figured it out; I am really in love with Kitozawa Miyuki. Shocking, isn't it? Well, I might not call it 'love' cause everyone knows that love __sucks__. So let's just call it an 'infatuation'. And, no, for all of you who are wondering, I am __not__ obsessing over the fact that my first love didn't go well. Can't you just feel the sarcasm?_

**Chapter 8**

Miyuki stared up at the fluffy white clouds. She had no idea what she was doing staring at clouds at this certain point in time, after school, with the completion of a huge project weighing on her shoulders, but she was bored so why not pass the time?

She started off by first looking for pictures. She spotted a cat, a flower, some form of six-legged flying animal, a cloud, another flower, Kaoru, a—wait, Kaoru? Yup there he was, up in the sky. Well, a representation of him at least, Miyuki did _not_ let herself realize how pathetic it was to see a guys face—the guy you're supposed to be getting over—in the clouds, but there it was, in all it's fluffy white subsistence.

She stopped looking for pictures.

So then she decided to watch the clouds play tag. That quickly got boring because the clouds _didn't move very fast._ Relentlessly, she stared up at them, hoping that they'd decide to get off their lazy asses and play some tag.

"Miyuki!" some one was calling her, and they sounded exasperated, "Miyuki! Were you even paying attention?!"

She sat up and stared at Hikaru looking at her with slight aggravation, and sporting a towel around his neck. She then remembered what she was doing there in the first place. Miyuki looked at him innocently. Hikaru pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Did you even time it?" He asked. It took her a while to remember what he was talking about.

"No, sorry…" she grinned sheepishly, "I got…distracted…"

"Are you saying that I'm boring?"

"Kind of…"

Hikaru snorted and sat down next to her, reaching over her to grab the bottle of water on her other side.

"If you wanted the water why didn't you just ask?" she looked at him, bemused, "or sit on the other side?"

"I didn't feel like it," Hikaru said playfully. This was not like him, at least not usually, and Miyuki had noticed that, as of late, he had been acting like this a lot.

"Well," Hikaru drank some of the water, "now I have to wait for my heart rate to stabilize, before I start again." He gave Miyuki a sideways glance, "just make sure you time it, 'kay?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Miyuki laid back down and stared at the sky again, "what are you doing this for again?"

Hikaru sighed and laid down next to her. "I told you, the school is participating in this international track thingy, and they want me to participate. I don't know why, since I'm not even that fast."

"And why did you make _me_ time you?"

"Because everyone else had something to do," Hikaru rolled on his side and prodded the girl next to him, "so you're the lucky one who gets to help me out."

"Fun fun!" Miyuki said, sitting up.

"Isn't it?" Miyuki rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Well, progressing athlete-san, ready to get back to work?" Miyuki offered her hand to help him up.

"Why not, spectator-san?" He grabbed her hand and pulled himself up, "we need to get this over with anyway." He slung an arm around her shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing, Hikaru?" Miyuki wasn't expecting that, "don't tell me you got another concussion."

"No, I didn't get another one," Miyuki tossed him a skeptical glance, "I'm just messing with your head a bit, sheesh."

"Well, whatever," she pulled out her stopwatch, slipped from Hikaru's grip and sat down next to the track. "Whenever you're ready."

"…"

She looked up at him; he seemed to be analyzing her.

"Uh, Hikaru?" he didn't seem to hear her. "Can I…help you?"

"Oh…uhm…no..." he seemed to still only be in a half awake state, "lets go."

"Ready…" Miyuki reset her stopwatch and put her finger on the button, "set, GO."

Miyuki pushed the button and, at the same time, he took off. She watched him around the first curve; he seemed pretty fast. Miyuki saw why the school chose him to be one of the people to represent them. She wondered why he wasn't on the track team; maybe she should suggest it to him.

She stopped the timer as Hikaru passed the start line.

"How'd I do?" he huffed between breaths.

"2:37," he winced.

"That's not good," he sat down next to her and let out a yelp of pain. He held his upper right leg.

"You idiot," Miyuki hoped to god she wasn't right, "You forgot to stretch, didn't you?"

"Sorry…"

"Don't' say sorry to _me,_ it's your body you just screwed up," Miyuki shifted until she sat on her knees.

"Aaah!" Hikaru shot her a 'don't rub it in' look.

"Okay, let me see," Hikaru removed his hands to let Miyuki try and figure out what was wrong.

She poked him a couple times and asked if it hurt, which he replied with a yes.

"'Yes, it still hurts' or 'Yes, it hurts more than before'," Miyuki asked.

"The former." Miyuki whacked him over the head.

"You're supposed to tell me if it hurts _more_!"

"Well how was I supposed to know?!" Hikaru shot back defensively.

Miyuki sighed and stood up. "It seems you only pulled a muscle. Stay here, I'll go get you some ice."

"I'll come too! I don't want to be here alone!"

"You'll live," Miyuki started walking away, "besides, it'll take less time if I go alone."

Miyuki walked off leaving Hikaru whining about being. She had to remember how to get to Kumura-sensei's office from here. She couldn't. Might as well find one that's closer, right?

She entered the school through the girls' locker room, not wanting to waste time find a proper entrance. She located the nearest staircase and would have run up it if she had not remembered her previous experiences with staircases, so walked cautiously instead. Once up on the next floor she turned corners and walked down hallways in this labyrinth of a school.

By some stroke of dumb luck she managed to find this buildings' nurses' office. She opened the sliding door and peeked in.

"Come in, dear," said a kindly voice from inside, "what do you need?"

Miyuki hurried in and shut the door behind her. "I'm sorry for the intrusion ma'am, but my friend injured himself and we need an icepack."

"You sound so formal, dear," an older women walked into a supply closet and retrieved a small box-like package.

"Here you go," she handed it to Miyuki, "when you get back to your friend take it out of the box, crush it around a little and then apply it to the area where the pain is."

"Yes, ma'am," Miyuki bowed and swiftly left the room. She stood just outside the door, "that wasn't awkward."

She could see Hikaru from halfway across the second lawn she had to cross (out of three); he was attempting to stand up. She jogged the rest of the way.

"Hikaru!" Miyuki yelled as she approached him, "what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Hikaru looked at Miyuki and smiled sheepishly. "I thought something had happened, you took so long, so I decided to find you!"

"No, sit down. Now" Hikaru sat down and Miyuki carelessly tossed the icepack at him.

"Hey! Hey! It's cold!" Hikaru pressed the icepack tentatively to his leg.

"Stop complaining," she picked up Hikaru's discarded towel and took the icepack away from him, "you're like whiny child." She wrapped the towel around the icepack and kneeled next to Hikaru, "here, this should be better."

Hikaru took the now towel-garbed icepack and pressed it to his leg. He stared at it while Miyuki sat down.

"I'm not _always_ like a whiny child," Hikaru said, looking up at her.

"True," Miyuki agreed, "but your mature side is a rarity I've only seen once or twice, so if we go by majority, you'd still be a whiny child."

"And if we didn't go by majority?"

"You'd be 82 percent whiny child and 18 percent mature." Hikaru pouted.

"That's not very cool," Hikaru folded his arms over his chest. Miyuki couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, that may not be very whiny, but it's _very_ childish," Miyuki put a hand over her mouth as she giggled.

"Is childish good?" Hikaru asked, seemingly interested.

"It can be," Miyuki calmed down, "I mean, it's very cute, when someone acts childish, but it could also arouse problems, you know, maturity levels and whatnot." Miyuki flopped her hand carelessly.

"Would I be right in guessing that you like mature guys?" Hikaru looked away

"Yes and no," Miyuki replied, "'cause you've got to have a little 'child spirit' otherwise life wouldn't be much fun. Why'd you ask?"

"Uhm, well…"

Miyuki looked past him and spotted Kuri running toward them, crying. She was up in a second, and running toward Kuri. She heard Hikaru call after her then follow when he spotted Kuri (he wasn't very fast, thanks to his injury).

"Kuri-chan!" Miyuki caught her friend and she collapsed to the ground in a frenzy of spastic sobs. "What's wrong, Kuri-chan? Did someone do something to you?"

"M-m-m-miyuki-chaaa-aaan!" Kuri sobbed, hugging her friend like a lost child.

"What happened, Kuri-chan?" Hikaru kneeled down next to Miyuki and put a sympathetic hand on Kuri's shoulder. "Is there something I could do?"

Kuri shook her head. "Nothing…a-anyone can do…m-my parents…already d-decided. "

"Already decided?" Miyuki looked at Hikaru, who just shrugged, "what did they already decide?"

"I…" Kuri hiccupped, "I'm…" She sobbed harder. Miyuki patted her on the back.

"It's alright, calm down. Take a deep breath, and tell us what's wrong."

Kuri took in a couple shaky breaths. She breathed in and out, deeply until she stopped sobbing. "I'm getting married!"

The outburst surprised Miyuki and Hikaru; they stared at her blankly before it registered.

"You're WHAT?!?" Kuri covered her ears.

"What the HELL!? You're getting _married_?! Just like that!?" Kuri still had her ears covered.

"Please don't yell," Kuri removed her hands.

They helped Kuri inside—mostly Miyuki, since Hikaru had to limp—and they sat down in the now empty 3rd Music Room. Miyuki walked back into the room with a fresh icepack for Hikaru and they sat down to question Kuri.

"So, why did your parents arrange your marriage?" Miyuki was the first to ask.

"They wanted to ensure that their only daughter hand a good future." She replied as if it was written on a card behind Miyuki's head.

"Who are you marrying?" Hikaru asked immediately after wards.

"Makutsu Kazumi-san." Miyuki and Hikaru were stunned. The Makutsu family was a well-known family, almost rising out of nowhere. They were even on the verge of challenging the Ohtori family.

"Do you want to marry Makutsu-san?" Miyuki asked the question that weighed heavily on bother her and Hikaru. The silence was killing them more each second.

"…No." They both breathed a sigh of relief. At least they had this to go on.

"Then why don't you break the engagement?" Hikaru asked next.

"It's not that easy, or I would have already done it," Kuri explained, she had clamed down and was thinking correctly again. "Both parties have to be against the marriage, and they have to break it together."

"Are you telling me that this Makutsu-whatever, is willing to marry you?! Someone he doesn't know?!" Hikaru started to flare up again. He was really mad over this, probably because Kaoru would be devastated.

"So, Makutsu-san is okay with marrying you?" Miyuki asked, keeping her voice level.

"No," Miyuki and Hikaru looked at each other confused, "but he's willing to please his family."

Miyuki face-palmed.

"So this arrogant ass is willing to ruin your life to please his family?!" this conversation wasn't doing any good for Hikaru.

"Jeezus, Hikaru! Stop yelling!" Miyuki was trying to stay calm in this situation, and he wasn't helping.

"Actually," Kuri commented, "He has a very shy personality, though he does have a bit of an…original…imagination."

"Sounds like Tono," Miyuki heard Hikaru mumble, "without the shyness."

"Well, anyway," Kuri stood up, "thanks for listening, but I'm sure they're getting worried." She headed toward the door. "Oh, and you guys can come to my house on Saturday to meet him if you wish." Three days away. "Please tell Kaoru-kun to not cause a scene."

Hikaru and Miyuki stared at the door she just walked out. There were a few moments of silence before Hikaru said:

"'_Tell Kaoru to not cause a scene_'? Does that mean that Kaoru doesn't know yet?!"

"We don't need another Ikomoto party disaster." Miyuki banged her head on the arm of the couch she was sitting on.

Sunday was finally here. Three days ago, Hikaru asked Miyuki to help him tell Kaoru what they had just heard. Kaoru had exploded, almost literally. Then he broke down, admitting to the two teens what they had already known. He was in love with Kuri.

Miyuki had gotten a call from Hikaru earlier that day saying that Kaoru had decided to go, to support Kuri, and that he was picking her up. So, now she sat in the Hitachiin limo, staring blankly out the window, though she was expecting it, Kaoru's confession had shaken her up a bit.

Kaoru was seething on the seat across from them. He had used every cuss word known to man—and probably made up some of his own—to describe how much he _abhorred _Kazumi, how much he _despised_ the current situation, how much he _hated _to actually be going to the party, and how much he _loathed_ himself, for not saying something to Kuri sooner.

Hikaru sat next to Miyuki. He had tried very hard to calm his brother down, but all he had managed to do was get him to stop cussing. He had listened sincerely to his brother three days ago and Miyuki wondered what had happened when she left. He was trying to convince his brother to at least _pretend _to be in a good mood. It wasn't working.

As he continued to rant, Miyuki stared emotionless; every second of his extreme emotion hit her like a softball to the head. She knew that she should get over it, and _soon_, cause Kaoru liked Kuri and that was that. Even though Kuri was getting married, there had to be someone that Kazumi liked. Maybe if she got him to admit it, he'd realize how'd stupid he was for going along with the marriage! Then Kuri wouldn't be sad!

They stepped out of the limo and got ready to face their greatest obstacle, as Miyuki thought of it. She was filled with a new fire.

They knocked on the door and waited to be let in. They spent the time trying to convince Kaoru to at least not look angry. A tall man in the Ikomoto house uniform opened the door.

"Welcome, Kuri-sama, informed us you'd be arriving today, please come in." They were led to the end of a hall, where a single white door stood. The man opened the door for them and shut it after they had entered.

Miyuki gazed around the room; there were a couple of people she recognized. Closest to her there were three of Kuri's younger cousins, next to them there were a couple people she didn't know. One of them was staring at her, he had black hair and green eyes, and he didn't seem to notice that he was staring. Next to the weird boy was Maxwell, who waved them over.

Miyuki sat down next to Maxwell, and Hikaru and Kaoru followed suit. Miyuki noticed that Kaoru was trying exceptionally hard to hide his bad mood. Miyuki smiled at his determination.

"How's he taking it?" Maxwell whispered.

"Horribly."

"No kidding," Maxwell rolled his eyes, "I'm not happy about it either, but better this Kazumi guy than him, I guess."

Miyuki looked shocked. "How can you say that!" she exclaimed, everyone in the room looked at her. "Kaoru is a great guy!" she lowered her voice, "And you don't even know this Kazumi guy, and you already say he's better than Kaoru?!"

"Calm down, Yuki," Maxwell put his hands up in defense, "I just want what's best for Kuri."

"And you think that marrying Makutsu Kazumi is what's best for her?!" Miyuki fired up again, "It'll make her miserable! Being forced to marry someone you don't know, and giving up someone you love, it'll kill her!"

"So does that mean you're half dead?" Maxwell thought out loud.

"Huh?"

"'Giving up someone you love'? Isn't that what you did?" Miyuki gasped and took a quick look behind her. To her relief it was the older twin behind her, who looked to be slightly pissed.

"Am I that obvious?" Miyuki blushed crimson.

"You're quite protective of that boy," Maxwell grinned, "but, anyway, I'll help in anyway I can." Miyuki was shocked. "What? I want Kuri to be happy, too; more than anything."

Miyuki nodded and smiled. Just as she did that, the door opened revealing Kuri and her parents. Kuri sat down in a chair opposite them and the boy who was staring got up and sat in the chair next to her. Miyuki put two and two together and let out a quiet gasp.

"Thanks for coming guys," Kuri said, "this is Kazumi, my fiancé." Kazumi stood up and bowed.

"It's very nice to meet you," he stared at Miyuki, "our engagement isn't final, as of now, but it will be in a month." His stare intensified. Did he know what she was planning to do?

Kuri's parents stood up and bowed. "We'll leave you kids to get to know each other." They stood up to walk out.

"Maxwell, you think you could get them to change their mind about the marriage?" Miyuki whispered as Kuri's parents opened the door.

"Fine, but you better tell me everything you hear about this guy."

"Deal." Maxwell hurried off after his aunt and uncle. Miyuki could only hope that it worked.

Her cousins and Kazumi talked for a while, well, Kazumi didn't do much talking, so it was hard to gather information on him. The thing that bugged Miyuki more—_much_ more—was that he would glance at her every now and then.

_Like he thinks I have a gun in pocket,_ Miyuki thought to herself with a smile. Kazumi seemed to catch her smile and he looked away swiftly. Now she was sure, he thought she had a gun.

After a while, Kuri's cousins went home leaving Kuri, Kaoru, Kazumi, Hikaru, and Miyuki in the room. Just like Miyuki wanted. She had a plan.

"Kuri, if you don't mind, I'm a little thirsty," Miyuki tried to sound honest.

"Oh!" Kuri stood up swiftly, "I'm so rude! I forgot to get tea for everyone!" She half trotted to the door.

"Kaoru," Hikaru had caught on to what Miyuki was doing, "Why don't you help her?" Kaoru nodded and followed Kuri out. Hikaru and Miyuki both focused on Kazumi.

"Uhm…" he seemed uncomfortable, "can I help you?"

"Kazumi-san," Miyuki started, "I'm going to put it simply, we can either be on your side, or we can be against you."

Kazumi didn't look her in the eye. Hikaru picked up where she left off.

"You should take us seriously Kazumi-san, we can be very…unpleasant…when we want to be." Kazumi sat up straight and met Hikaru's gaze head on.

"I very much wish for us to be on good terms, and I assure you Hitachiin-san, I am very serious." Miyuki almost laughed out loud.

"I'll take it from here, Hikaru-kun," Miyuki calmed herself and looked at Kazumi with a steady gaze, he looked away.

"What we are here for, while we have the time, is very simple," Miyuki smiled reassuringly and continued, "well, you see, we want Kuri to be happy and I'm not totally sure that…uhm, I mean, Kuri may not be totally okay with…there's got to be…" Miyuki scratched the back of her head in confusion. She sighed, "In short, I want my best friend to be happy, and, no offense, but I don't think she'd be happy married to you. So I was wondering, is there any reason you could call off the engagement? Isn't there someone you like? And, even if there isn't some one now maybe there will be someone later and then what will happen to Kuri? So I was wonde—" She was stopped short by a finger against her lips. It was Kazumi; he was smiling brightly while still keeping his composed stature.

"You're rambling," he looked at Miyuki in such a way that made her gasp. She figured what he was getting at. What happened to that shy personality Kuri said he had?! "I totally understand, and there is someone I sort of like," he looked away and blushed, "though it was recent," he looked back at Miyuki with a silly smile, "very recent, but she still caught my eye, like true love. And I would be more than willing to cancel the engagement if she would agree to be mine."

Miyuki was ecstatic. It worked! " Then you should tell her! Maybe she feels the same about you!" Kazumi grinned like an idiot, and Miyuki heard Hikaru behind her.

"Miyuki, what are you doing!?" Hikaru tried to interject, but he was to late.

"Kitozawa Miyuki, I felt a strong pull to you as soon as you stepped through that door, would you be mine?" Miyuki was shocked beyond reason; she couldn't speak. She heard Hikaru mutter a small 'oblivious' behind her.

She contemplated in the total silence that followed the question. Kuri was her first and only friend. She trusted her with her life and wanted her to be happy more than anything. But does one sacrifice happiness like this for a friend? Miyuki's only thought was _'without hesitation'._

She looked at Kazumi and opened her mouth to respond with a 'yes' but never got the chance to. Hikaru had jumped forward and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked her, anger evident in his voice. She gave him a look and he knew exactly what it meant. He sighed and slumped a little, "please, at least, don't decide something like this with thinking it through, _fully._" She sighed and nodded; he let go of her.

"I will think and tell you later, Kazumi-kun," Miyuki looked at her hands.

"May I know how long 'later' is?" _Damn_, Miyuki knew he was going to ask that.

"After the International Track Meet." Kazumi thought on it and nodded. He stood up swiftly and offered a hand to Miyuki.

"I'll look forward for that day," Kazumi got dangerously close to her, and whispered to her, "I anticipate your answer."

Hikaru stood up and pulled Kazumi away from Miyuki. "She hasn't answered yet, asshat."

"Oh, and don't tell Kuri, please," Miyuki begged the two males. Kazumi nodded simply but Hikaru retaliated.

"You only ask because you know she'd go off on you," Hikaru was clearly _not _in a good mood.

"Yes and that's why you can't—" at that moment the door opened and Kuri, followed by Kaoru, walked into the room, each carrying a couple of drinks.

"Oh!" Kuri said when she noticed them standing. "Is everything alright?"

"Perfect," Kazumi answered. He walked to the door, "oh and our engagement is on hold, and might possibly be cancelled," he said to Kuri as he walked out.

Kuri nearly dropped the drinks she was holding; she was so happy. "Miyuki did you hear?!" Miyuki could only nod meekly.

"Thank you for the drink, Kuri, but I'm not feeling well, I'm going to go home." Kuri looked concerned.

"I'll take her home," Hikaru offered, "I'll pick you up later Kaoru." Kaoru just nodded, half dazed with joy.

Hikaru and Miyuki were escorted out of the house. When they got out to the limo Hikaru took Miyuki's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She was shaking, the situation fully grasping her mind, much to shocked to grasp the fact that Hikaru was acting _waaaaaaay _to nice. She rubbed some stray tears from her eyes. Hikaru didn't know what to do, so he just hugged her. She hugged him back; they stayed like that until she stopped crying.

"Let's go, Miyuki," he gently helped her into the car. She sat down on the seat and drifted off slightly, she barely registered Hikaru laying her head in his lap. All she remembered after that was feeling someone stroke her hair, whispering compassionately as she fell into a troubled sleep.

**End Chapter 8**


	9. Chapter 9

Ouran High School Mix UpOuran High School Mix Up

_Wow. Never knew how much __intensity_ _I could hate someone with when the time came. Awesome. I just have all this hate and I owe it all to Kazumi, the little bastard. He's going to hell; he is SO GOING TO HELL. All this hate burning up inside me is very energizing. I'll be nice and ready for that little international track meet thing, which is in a couple days, by the way. And I'm not nervous, if that's what you're thinking. _

Chapter 9

Hikaru jolted awake when he felt the plane take off. It took him a while to remember why he was on a plane—the track meet that he _wasn't_ nervous about—and then another to wonder how long he had been asleep. It was quite a long trip from Japan to England, so this plane made multiple stops on the way. They had just left Hong Kong.

"Yuki-kichi, why didn't you wake me up?" Hikaru turned to the girl next to him who was reading manga.

"You need your sleep if you're going to be in a track meet," she looked up from her manga, "you should probably go back to sleep."

He laid his head on her shoulder and read her manga. "How in the world do you read on a plane?"

"No idea." She kept reading, casually turning the page every few seconds.

Hikaru smirked. "So _this_ is the type of manga you read." He stole it from her and leaned back against his own chair.

"It's just shoujo," Miyuki blushed. Hikaru flipped through it.

"Very much a romance though, isn't it?" Hikaru was looking at a page when the leading couple stood, embracing in the rain.

"That's generally what shoujo is," Miyuki said, "now give it back!"

Hikaru held it out of her reach. "No, I don't think I will." Miyuki stretched herself to try and reach her book but came up too short. She tried supporting herself on the arm of the chair, but it didn't get her much higher. She pushed the armrest up and stretched as far as she could.

This went on for about five minutes until a voice spoke from behind them. "Can't you leave your lovers quarrel for later? As in not now?" Hikaru and Miyuki looked at the seats behind them. There were two foreign men (fairly young, yet older than them) sitting there.

"Just give her back her book, man," the second guy said, "you're kinda making us sick."

Hikaru and Miyuki both looked down at what was making them so 'sick'. Miyuki had put her hand on his shoulder to lift herself higher and it had slipped around his neck when the two men had stopped them. Hikaru, in an attempt to keep her from reaching it, had an arm wrapped tightly around her waist. Not to mention they were extremely close.

Upon realizing this, both teens turned multiple shades of red. Hikaru hastily handed the book to Miyuki, who promptly put it away and stared out the plane window. Hikaru leaned back against his seat and drifted off to sleep. He had weird dreams.

Hikaru jolted awake, not because of the plane taking off, but because it had just made a bumpy landing. He figured that they had just landed in Moscow, seeing as most of the people who boarded in Hong Kong were now leaving. He stretched a little and finally realized that he felt a strange weight on his chest, literally.

He looked down to see Miyuki, undisturbed by the landing, leaning against him. He blushed and looked away, trying to pretend that he doesn't really notice. He soon realized it would fail; they had to get off this plane.

"Miyuki-chan, wake up," he shook the girl gently, "come on, you lazy ass! Wake up!"

Miyuki blinked and managed to slur out a "huh?"

"It's time to get off," Hikaru stood up and gathered their bags.

"We're in England already?" Miyuki was still only half asleep.

"No, we're in Moscow," Hikaru pulled the girl by the arm and dragged her off the plane, "we need to board a different plane."

"Mmkay," Miyuki let Hikaru drag her to their next docking area. They sat in those chairs that were placed in every boarding area (very convenient but not very comfortable). Miyuki slumped down in the chair and drifted off to sleep.

Hikaru sighed. "If you don't wake up this time, I'm leaving you here…" Miyuki made a gesture similar to 'up yours'. Hikaru wondered why she was so tired. She did have that huge decision on her shoulders, but did that really keep her up?

"Why does everything 'interesting' happen to me?" Miyuki sighed. Hikaru looked at her, unsure whether she wanted an answer or if she was talking in her sleep. "I _fall_ down stairs, I get _stuck_ with a drunkard at the bottom of some—"

"—That was a concussion!—"

"I almost drown, and it just so happens that my best friend's former fiancé fell 'in love' with me at first sight." She sighed. "Not to mention I'm always stuck with you."

Hikaru felt like he just got stabbed. "H-hey!"

She opened one eye drowsily and grinned, "just kidding, you're pretty good company." She closed her eyes again. Even though he knew she was kidding, Hikaru still felt the pain from her comment. He didn't like this very much.

"What's up with you?" Miyuki was looking at him quizzically. His breath caught. "Are you okay?" She put a hand on his forehead and Hikaru felt very clichéd.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Hikaru swatted her hand away, "Just don't do that, it makes me feel like we're in a real life romance manga."

"You do not even _know_ 'real life romance manga', so don't even start."

"Oh really? You wanna bet?" Hikaru egged her on.

"Yea really, 'cause this is nothing even relatively _close_ to shoujo manga." Miyuki was pretty confident.

"Then show me, oh great manga master, what _would_ be shoujo?" Hikaru loved her expression.

"Uhm… well, I-I obviously can't do it _here_…" she stuttered and blushed.

"Why not?"

"'Cause…there are…_people_ here…" Miyuki looked around cautiously, like she was saying something wrong.

"So?" Hikaru leaned in a little closer, Miyuki freaked. "Nobody here _knows_ us, so it's perfectly fine." He leaned closer still.

"N-no! It's not p-perfectly fine!" Miyuki looked like she was about to go into cardiac arrest. "H-Hikaru!" There was barely an inch between them now, "What the _hell _are you doing?!"

"I wonder?" he said, then kissed her on the nose.

Miyuki clearly wasn't expecting that since she froze with shock. Hikaru sat, still in close proximity, waiting for her to do something.

"EWWWWW!!" a high-pitched voice rang from a few chairs away, "Mommy! Mommy, look at those people!"

That seemed to wake Miyuki up since she blushed about 10 different shades of red and shoved Hikaru away. He grinned stupidly; amused.

"What the _hell_ has gotten into you lately?" Miyuki, still bright red, questioned the smiling teen.

"Oh, nothing," Hikaru was still grinning.

"Everyone knows that 'nothing' means something, so what—"

"Our plane's here!" Hikaru interrupted her and dragged her to the boarding entrance. Miyuki dropped the questioning since he was obviously _not _going to answer it. They entered the plane and took their seats. They sat in silence.

Hikaru didn't sleep; he _couldn't_ sleep. He figured it was from all the sleeping he did on the way here. Miyuki, however, managed to fall asleep immediately. He spent a while keeping her from leaning on him every time they hit a bump—which he didn't really _get_; how were there bumps in the sky?

The plane rocked again—from another sky-bump he presumed—and Miyuki slid in her seat and rested her head on his shoulder. Hikaru was getting tired of this. He carefully pushed her off, so as not to wake her up, and left her in the middle of her own seat; head hanging limply in front of her.

Hikaru instantly felt guilty, she didn't look very comfortable lying like that. He look a quick glance behind him. There were no rude foreign men sitting in the seats behind him—much less any one else. He looked around him; though he knew, he wanted to make sure that there was no one here who could identify him later.

With a quiet sigh, he reached over and placed an arm around her shoulders. She moved; he froze. When she stilled again he sighed, it was too close for comfort. Careful not to wake her—he knew that if he did, she would probe him with embarrassing questions about their current position—he pulled her close to him, her head resting at the base of his neck.

She was warm; he could feel her leg dangerously close to his. He tightened his grip on her shoulders protectively and brought his other arm around her front to grasp his wrist. He rested his cheek against the top of her head and breathed in—somewhere in his subconscious mind he noted that she smelled vaguely of coconut.

'_Kazumi will _not _take her from me. _Ever.' He thought before dozing off with pensive dreams; feeling warm and content.

Hikaru woke up some time later, feeling the absence of the other's presence. He shook himself awake and searched for the girl in question. She was over in her seat—as far from him as possible, Hikaru noticed—starring out the window.

He hoped that she did not think strangely of the position they were in—who _wouldn't?_ He chided himself—and that her staring out the window was not to avoid him. The thought was quickly tossed aside when she turned to him, grinning insanely, and said:

"We're landing!"

Hikaru stepped off the plane. He had seen the canal that ran through the city, fairly close to the Heathrow Airport, where they had landed. As they were descending he saw London off in the distance.

It had looked so amazing from the plane, as did the surrounding area of the airport, housing and vegetation scattered like they had been recklessly thrown about, then arranged later. That's why, as he entered the airport, he couldn't help but think that it seemed a bit out of place.

"How odd," Miyuki appeared to his right, "the outside looks new and kept, yet the inside looks so…antique." She bit her thumb in thought, "maybe they did that on purpose?" She looked up at Hikaru.

"Maybe," he replied, he didn't doubt it. The carpeting was so obviously worn that he didn't think anyone could _not_ do it on purpose.

"Well, we can't oogle the interior design all day," Hikaru laughed at her usage of the word 'oogle'. "Keep moving, Hitachiin!" she called out, putting a hand on his shoulder to push him forward.

After picking up their baggage, Hikaru and Miyuki exited the airport and met, for the first time the chilling winds of England.

Miyuki instantly clutched her sides. "It's sunny, and it's still this cold?!" She dug through her bag for her jacket.

"This is one of the only days it's supposed to be sunny." Hikaru took off his sweatshirt—that he had worn on the plane—and checked his watch. "No time, Miyuki," he said to the shivering girl, still looking for her jacket, "we have to get across this parking lot in five minutes."

"Oh crud," she zipped up her bag and faced him, "let's go then!" When she turned to start walking Hikaru shoved his sweatshirt over her head. She pulled her head through and spun to look at him questioningly. "What in the world are you—" She cut off when she realized that she was no longer cold, and that he was without a sweatshirt.

She donned a puzzled expression and started to say something, but Hikaru cut her off. "We're going to be late!"

They made it to their bus just in time, successfully got off at the correct stop, and even managed to find the right hotel.

"Wait here," Hikaru instructed, "I'll go check in." Miyuki sat down obediently, apparently still mulling over the sweater incident. Hikaru hoped she wouldn't mull for too long.

"May I help you?" the clerk asked professionally as Hikaru approached the desk.

"Yes, I'm with the ITM?"

"Name." It wasn't a question.

"Hitachiin Hikaru." The clerk shuffled through a stack of envelopes before pulling one out and handing it to Hikaru.

"Have a nice day." Hikaru nodded politely. He went back and dragged Miyuki—along with their stuff—to the nearest elevator. Once inside, Hikaru jabbed the '3' button with his finger and stared at the wall. A quick glance at Miyuki revealed that she was still absorbed in her thoughts; he thought this a good time to tell her.

"We're sharing a room, by the way," when he didn't get a reaction he pressed on cautiously, "w-we'll have separate beds of course! We'll be sharing a bathroom though." He seemed to only be embarrassing himself with his babbling so he stopped trying.

It was a while before he got an answer. "Mmkay…" Miyuki flopped her hand uselessly to show that she had understood; he was shocked that she was even okay with it.

They had reached their room with no unexpected trouble, and Hikaru fumbled with the room key before opening the door and stepping inside.

"Ha! This is a nice little room, though it'll be a bit lonely without Kaoru…" he turned around and faced Miyuki. She was pulling his sweatshirt over her head. Her shirt rose a bit, exposing her stomach, Hikaru forced him self to look away. Miyuki folded the sweater neatly and handed it back to Hikaru.

"Thank you for your kindness," she gave a short bow and looked up at Hikaru for an answer.

"No problem," he mussed her hair a little with his hand, "if you ever have a problem, you can always come to me," his gazed intensified, "…always."

They went separate ways after that, claiming beds and emptying suitcases. When they finished it was late, especially for those with jetlag.

"I. Am. Exhausted." Hikaru flopped down on his bed and spread out his arms. He sighed dramatically and closed his eyes. Miyuki laughed and walked across the room to flop down next to him.

"You should sleep then," Miyuki laid her head on his out-stretched arm.

"Easier said than done," Hikaru rolled over and put his other arm behind her head to pull her closer. She put one arm around his waist in a huggish sort of way.

"Hikaru, how can you be so warm after going through all that cold wind _with out a sweater?_" Miyuki hugged closer, Hikaru could only imagine that she was still cold.

"I'm just that awesome," Hikaru smiled mischievously when Miyuki looked up at him, a bemused expression on her face.

He didn't realize how close they had become until he felt her warm breath on his neck. He looked down at her, despite that biting voice tucked away somewhere telling him not to, and she stared back, her blue eyes flashing concern and confusion. He was confused himself, and before he could stop it, his lips met hers in a momentary flare of passion.

It was over as quick as it had started, and left both teens in fuzzy state of mind. Upon realizing what had transpired between the two, Miyuki jumped back stating shakily that she had better get some sleep. She pulled some clothes from her drawer and entered the bathroom, leaving Hikaru to kick himself for what had just occurred before stripping down to his boxers and climbing under the covers of his hotel bed.

The sunlight streaming in through the window next to his bed in what woke Hikaru the next morning. The memory of the pervious night hit him like a hangover, and threatened to _hang over_ him all day. He laughed at the bad pun he made and pushed himself out of the bed and over to his drawer so he could grab some clothes.

He had pulled on a pair of nice fitting jeans (he was almost but not really against excessively baggy pants) when a clattering sound came from the direction on the bathroom. Miyuki was hurryingly collecting the items she had dropped upon entering the room. She stood up to put her things away and Hikaru notice that her face was bright red and that she was not looking at him; around the same time, he also noticed that he had failed to put a shirt on. He tossed the nearest one over his head.

"Good morning, Miyuki!" Hikaru masked his uneasiness easily; being a host had its pros.

"M-morning, Hikaru," Miyuki wasn't nearly as successful. Hikaru sighed.

"Listen, Miyuki, about last night," she visibly tensed, "I…" _I was stupid_, "That won't happen again," _I should have thought…_ "I won't do that anymore," _but I'm not sorry. _

Miyuki's expression softened, but it held something Hikaru couldn't decipher. "Well, let's get going. You have a practice today, right?"

"True," Hikaru was glad he was forgiven, "but I think I need something to eat, you up for it?" Hikaru didn't even need an answer.

When they got to the track and field stadium Hikaru whispered a quick 'sorry' before grabbing Miyuki's hand and dragging her to the entrance.

"Hitachiin, Hikaru," he told the man standing at the gate. Like the hotel clerk, the man shuffled through some envelopes before pulling one out.

"Hikaru Hitachiin and…" he glanced at Miyuki, "his girlfriend?"

Hikaru jumped in before Miyuki could protest, "correct, sir." The man handed Hikaru the envelope containing two badges one for him, the contestant, and one for Miyuki, his spectator.

"I'm really sorry about that, Yuki," Hikaru told her after they had walked inside. "It was the only way to make sure you could come, 'cause you wouldn't pass for my sister, we don't even look relatively alike in any way, and you sure as hell couldn't be my mother."

"So…" Miyuki saw where this was going.

"So the only option I could think of was 'girlfriend', so while we're here," Hikaru gestured to the track and field stadium, "we're going out."

"OH-, blick." There was a group of participants, wearing the German flag colors, situated in a clique looking mob around the benches. "Es scheint, daß ein anderer Verlierer angekommen ist."

"Hey!" Miyuki didn't like them calling Hikaru a 'loser', and she felt compelled to defend him.

"You speak German?" Hikaru looked amused.

"Mildly."

"Wie nett, sein Geliebter ihn schützt!" one of the girls squealed sarcastically.

"Lovers?!" Miyuki scared herself with the fact that she was getting defensive cause she had called them 'lovers' but ignored everything else. "Gehen Bissen sich im Esel!"

That shut them up.

"What did you just yell at them?" Hikaru looked at her warily.

"You don't want to know." Hikaru took her advice on that one.

The practice had ended uneventfully. Hikaru headed off to the locker room immediately and changed back into his everyday clothes. Miyuki met him at the locker room exit with a towel and his water bottle. He flung the towel around his neck and gladly accepted the water for his dying throat.

"Ready?" Miyuki smiled and took his gym bag so he could wipe his face. Hikaru smiled back.

"After this Hells run of a practice, I'm ready for anything." Miyuki laughed softly and clung to his bag.

"So, now what?" Hikaru asked the brunette next to him.

"Well, after 'this Hells run of a practice' you should probably get some rest."

"No, not 'now what' as in what should we do, 'now what' as in is there anything you _want_ to do?" Hikaru took his bag back and nodded at the man as they exited the stadium

"I _want_ you to rest so you don't wear your self out before the actual tournament," Miyuki glared at the grinning boy for being difficult.

"I don't need rest, I will be fine." Miyuki sighed and shoved the teen toward the bus back to the hotel.

Back in their room Miyuki forced Hikaru to lay down on the bed and get some sleep. He watched the brunette as she pulled a book out of her bag—he only saw the word _Twilight_ on the front, figuring it was the title—and she sat in one of the chairs that were placed around a circular table next to the sink. It was only then that he decided to roll over and try to sleep a bit, finding that he was drowsier than he had previously thought. Right before losing all conscious thought he heard a quiet sigh from his female companion, accompanied by a whispered _"what the hell was he thinking?"_

The next couple days passed in a rather swift blur. Between the days of assigned practice and off days—when they had visited some of London's most popular tourists spots—it had been an altogether quick week. That must be, Hikaru thought, why when the final day had arrived, he felt unready and nervous.

"You have an altogether magnificent time on your sprints," Miyuki had attempted to cheer him up, "you will do fine."

"How can you be so sure?" he had whined back, completely and utterly unconfident.

"You _will_ do fine." Hikaru wasn't sure if that was a compliment or a threat but it had helped him none the less, though now, he wasn't so sure. Though one thing he did know for sure, is that in the first row of the stadium bleachers, Miyuki was sitting watching him—and waving every so often when he looked at her—and that did nothing to help.

He didn't have time to be nervous though, because in the small fix of Ouran Track and Field team members each person had 4 events, and his was first.

It's not that sprints were hard to do—they weren't very easy either—but individual events were his strongest, he had even come in first in his second event. His problem was the last event—_his_ last event—a relay, in which there were teams of four and each runner had to run once around the track before passing the baton, and Hikaru was the anchor.

He was glad he didn't get two relays, and he _thought_ he could survive one, but being the last person, the one who had to bring the whole thing home, he did not think he could handle. The first runners took their positions; Hikaru only knew who was on his team by the color of their uniforms; he had never seem any of his teammates before.

The first runners took off at the sound of a pistol—he didn't know if the pistol was fake or not—and before long they rounded the first turn. He tried not to think about it when the third runner took off and he was pushed by another team member into place. He tried not to listen to the whispered taunts of the German runner next to him—not that he could understand them—and he tried to focus on the baton that the third runner extended forward as he approached. It all happened in a flash.

Hikaru only remembers taking off and running, before he was being hugged, back at the starting line by the other team members chanting that they had come in second. He did it.

He was still smiling when they got back to the hotel, and it must have been contagious because Miyuki was smiling too.

"The other guys told me that they came in either fourth or third for the past ten years, so second was a big advancement for them," he looked wistful, "I almost wish Kaoru could've seen that."

"Almost?"

"Yea, because he would have laughed at me for looking like a nervous wreck."

"Well, why didn't you invite _him?_" Hikaru knew this question was coming, and he wasn't ready to answer it.

"Well, uhm… K-Kuri-chan! …and… Kaoru, they just found out that she was unengaged, right? Well, I-I thought that they could use some time together, to uhm…help the cause?" Miyuki seemed skeptical, but accepted his explanation anyway, despite the fact that he so obviously pulled said explanation out of his ass. Hikaru didn't want the topic of his reasons coming up again anytime soon, so he began to repack his stuff. Miyuki followed suite. Hikaru glanced at Miyuki when he noticed that she stopped moving. She looked a bit distracted. Hikaru threw the clothes he had in his hands into the bag and cautiously stepped next to Miyuki.

"Oi, Yuki?" Hikaru got curious when she set down her stuff and began to mumble to herself. "Yuki? Yuki!" The brunette jumped a bit, startled by the sudden yelling.

"Oh, uh, sorry Hikaru," Miyuki gave a sheepish smile and resumed packing her things.

"Hey, what's up?" Hikaru didn't get an answer so he followed her around, pestering her about it until he got a reaction.

"Ugh! You're so annoying! Alright, I'll tell you." Hikaru waited for her explanation.

"Congratulations, Hikaru for getting second place in the international track meet," Hikaru tilted his head in confusion.

"Um...what?"

"It sounds plain, right? Overused? Insincere? I know, and I'm thinking of a way to make it better, but I'm stuck," Miyuki put a finger to her lips in frustration.

"How about you do it later?" Miyuki looked confused, "kind of like an IOU?" Miyuki nodded in understanding and both teens finished repacking and lay down for the night.

Hikaru was glad to be back in Japan, especially after that last plane ride. The landing was just bumpy enough to leave him slightly woozy. His twin greeted them enthusiastically at the baggage claim accompanied by Kuri who gave them both a huge hug.

"I wish I could've seen you out there representing Ouran…" Kaoru said after hearing about the competition and the outcome.

"I took pictures, Kaoru–kun!" Miyuki proudly produced a disposable camera. Hikaru immediately tried to grab it.

"You didn't tell me you took pictures!" Hikaru made another failed attempt at confiscating the camera.

"You would have taken them if I did!" Which was true. "Besides, you looked so adorable when you were a nervous mess!" Hikaru felt the blood rush to his cheeks as he made one last half-hearted attempt to grab the camera before Miyuki successfully gave it to Kaoru who put it in the inside pocket of his jacket.

They left the airport courtesy of the Hitachiins' chauffer. They laughed and joked until Miyuki suddenly got serious. She whispered something to Hikaru, who looked absolutely devastated then requested that the chauffer pull over.

"Give us a minute, please," Hikaru said to Kaoru and Kuri, who just nodded, not pressing the matter further. Hikaru followed Miyuki outside and immediately started arguing.

"You can't!" he exclaimed.

"I…I have to," Miyuki mumbled sadly, looking at the ground, unable to meet Hikaru's gaze.

"No, you don't! There must be another way."

"When you think of it, let me know, until then, I have to." Miyuki turned and started to walk away.

"Miyuki!" she didn't stop, "wait, please-!" Hikaru caught the brunette around the waist pulling her against him and burying his face in her hair. "Please, you can't."

"I-"

"_No_! You _don't_ and you can't! Please," Hikaru held her tighter. Miyuki turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Why?" Hikaru stared dumbstruck, why _what?_

"Why? Because there's another way!" Hikaru began

"No, not 'why don't I have to do this?', 'why can't I do this?" Miyuki was expecting an answer this time, a straight answer.

"Uhm…" Hikaru forced himself to stick to the promise he had made back in the hotel room. "It's …complicated," that wasn't going to fly with Miyuki. Aw, screw it.

Hikaru removed his hands from around her waist and he brought them up to cup her face. He made her look up at him and he just stared at her for a while before bending down to plant a small kiss on her forehead. His lips hovered over hers for a second, but he hesitated. Hell, he _thought_ he was going to kiss her, instead he gave her a peck on the cheek.

He pulled away and stared at her, she looked up at him, a sadness in her eyes.

"I better go," Miyuki turned and walked toward the Makutsu household.

Hikaru stared after her, feeling like he just got punched. He climbed back into the car when she was out of sight.

"Where's Miyuki?" Kuri asked immediately.

"She's headed to Kazumi's house," Hikaru didn't care anymore.

"Ka- _why?_"

"Hell, I have no more obligation to her, not that I promised in the first place, so why not? She's going to tell him that, yes, she will agree to be engaged to him."

"WHAT?!" Both of the teens yelled simultaneously, this was really annoying Hikaru.

"Why would she do that?!" Kuri shouted

"So you would be…available to love who you want…" Hikaru was really pissed now, she made her own decision, leave her be.

"We…we have to do something!" Kuri shouted again.

"We don't have to do anything!" Hikaru spat angrily. "She made up her own mind, there's nothing we can do about it!"

"If you don't want to help, then _shut the goddamn hell up!_" Kuri was angry. Angrier than Hikaru had ever seen her before. Kaoru intervened before she could bite Hikaru's head off.

"Hikaru, don't you want Miyuki back?"

Hikaru stared at the window. "Yes, I do, very much." Hikaru thought about it some more, "but I'm pretty sure she won't want me back." The stopped both listening parties in their tracks.

"Did you say something stupid, again?" and "I really, highly doubt that," were the simultaneous answers he got. The latter caught everyone's attention though.

"What?" Kuri said defensively, "I know her really well, and I can honestly say that I seriously doubt that she won't want you back."

Hikaru blushed and looked away.

"So it's settled then," Kuri was already making calculations in her head, "Tomorrow our plan launches."

Hikaru could honestly say that he wasn't surprised when Miyuki didn't show up for school the next day.

"Well, this _is_ the last day until winter break, she's probably at Kazumi's house, situating stuff. Gives us more time to work." Once the lunch bell rang, Kuri got started.

Hikaru didn't know what to expect when he arrived at the park on Sunday. He knew that Kuri had recruited some of the single girls at Ouran of more prominent families—if this worked, they had to make sure his family would agree—and had assembled them in this park. Hikaru was sure that most of them had no idea what they were here for though he figured that soon, none of them would care.

He also had no idea what his role in this was, or why Kuri and Kaoru picked for him to wear a white dress shirt with a sweater vest and a tie. He felt really stupid.

"Alright," Kuri walked up and patted Hikaru on the back, "all we need now is Kaoru's signal, that they're—" Kuri cut off instantly when Kaoru ran through the bushes laughing and giving the signal—a simple wave, nothing fancy.

"Here we go," Kuri disappeared into the throng of Ouran girls. Kaoru stopped in front of Hikaru and tried to catch his breath.

"Heh…she saw me…" Kaoru laughed again and took in a deep breath to calm himself. "I was watching out for them behind this tree, I looked out and she saw me! Kazumi didn't, thankfully, but she just gave me this weird stare until Kazumi asked if something was wrong…! It was hilarious. Oh, and, Hikaru, you're going to flip when you see her, so don't do anything stupid." With that last line Kaoru fixed him with a harsh glare.

Almost immediately the crowd of girls broke into hushed whispers; _'who's that?' 'He is so cute!' 'Is that his girlfriend?'_

A squeal broke through the whispers, "Oh my lord! That's _Kazumi Makutsu!_" in another part of the group someone squealed a response, "He's so cute!" That was all it took for the girls to spring to life. They all rushed over to Kazumi and tried to talk to him or something of the sort.

"That was fun!" Kuri appeared next to Kaoru.

"You were the one squealing?" Hikaru asked, already knowing the answer.

"You bet!" Kuri stated proudly, "It doesn't take much does it to get these girls riled up, and with all of these suitors, he's bound to fall in 'love at first sight' with at least one of them."

Kaoru elbowed Hikaru. "It's your turn, go rescue her! Don't mess it up!" Hikaru felt very confident knowing that his own twin thought he couldn't handle his own affairs without something going wrong. Hikaru had to make sure he wasn't seen by any of the girls, which he did pretty successfully. He grabbed Miyuki's wrist and pulled her swiftly out of the crowd and far enough away so they wouldn't be seen.

He stopped and turned around only to be met by a fast slap in the face. "Ow!"

"Hikaru?" Miyuki looked at her savior and gasped, "I'm so sorry, you scared me!" Hikaru wasn't even listening he just pulled her into a tight embrace. 

"…Hikaru?" Miyuki hugged him back, "I saw you four days ago, is something the matter?" Hikaru didn't answer, he just held her like she was going to disappear any minute.

"What are you guys planning with this thing?" Miyuki asked.

"You should thank Kuri, she figures that he'll have to fall in 'love at first sight' with one of these girls, and you'll be off the hook. I told you there was another way."

"You mean you told her!?" Miyuki pulled back and crossed her arms in front of her chest in an angry pout.

"I was mad at you okay?" Hikaru shrugged sheepishly, a blush creeping across his cheeks.

"Mad about what?"

"Deciding to accept Kazumi's offer, of course," he realized what he said and he mentally kicked himself.

"You were mad because I decided to get engaged to Kazumi?" Miyuki looked mystified.

"Yea…" then he looked at her and remembered that Kaoru told him he was going to flip. And now he knew why. She was wearing a cute knee-length summer dress—dark blue with a white star pattern—and a blue sweater.

"You…you look really cute," Miyuki's eyes widened in a mild shock when he said this reminding him that Kaoru had also told him not to screw this up. Twice. "I mean…you look really nice," Hikaru smiled with a blush resurfacing on his face. He took Miyuki's hand and led her back toward the crowd, "Let's go see what's happened, shall we?"

Miyuki intertwined her fingers with his and walked alongside him, back to the mess they had temporarily escaped. They came upon a scene in which Kazumi as on one knee proposing to a girl who was in the crowd—Miyuki recognized her from class. The others watched in awe at the moe scene in front of them.

"Well, it seems that you are indeed of the hook," Hikaru put an arm around her waist in a one-armed hug.

"Not entirely," Miyuki pointed to Kuri who was previously watching the scene in front of them, but had spotted Miyuki and Hikaru and was walking toward them with a deathly aura about her.

"What were you _thinking_ Kitozawa!," she only used last names when she was mad.

"I was just trying to help you!" Miyuki meeped and hid behind Hikaru.

"Did you think it would help to sacrifice _your own_ freedom for _mine?_" Kuri was simmering down, but she was still pretty mad.

"At the time, yes. Will you please forgive me?" Miyuki stepped out form behind Hikaru

Kuri gained an evil grin, "I'll forgive you, but only if I see you kiss Hikaru."

"…_what?_" both Miyuki and Hikaru turned bright red and the happenings of the first night in England returned to them both.

"Come on." Kuri encouraged. Miyuki sighed and Hikaru decided that this was one of his worst days ever. That is, until Miyuki took a hold of his tie and dragged him down into a quick kiss.

"I'm sorry about that," Miyuki said, standing outside on her porch with Hikaru.

"Are you really sorry?" Hikaru asked coyly. Miyuki was confused.

"Yea, just like…" she trailed off in thought, "you…you never _did_ say you were sorry for that…"

"Because I wasn't," Hikaru smiled and wrapped his arms around Miyuki, "and I'm still not."

"So then…that promise…?"

"Was only valid if you wanted it to be," Hikaru put a hand under her chin and made her look up at him. He rested his forehead against hers and looked at her for permission. When she didn't move, he cautiously pressed his lips to hers, starting out slow waiting for her pull away. When that didn't happen he kissed her a little more passionately, she surprised him ultimately when she responded by shyly kissing him back.

He pulled back and rested his forehead against hers again. He could feel her warm breath on his neck and he saw the crimson blush across her cheeks.

She looked to her front yard and she smiled. "It's raining." She slowly pulled away from him and stepped under the cold raindrops.

"Miyuki! You'll catch a cold!" Hikaru called from the porch, "Come back here!"

"Nope!" Miyuki turned around and smiled, her summer dress sticking to her skin. She started to spin around.

"Miyuki!" Hikaru sighed and ran out under the rain. He caught the spinning girl by the wrists. "Idiot, you'll get sick."

"Well, now so will you," she held his hands, her brunette hair plastered to her face. Hikaru smiled and smoothed some of her wet bangs from her eyes.

"Is this 'real life romance manga'?" Her eyes fluttered closed and she nodded. Hikaru leaned in close and whispered, "Miyuki Kitozawa, I think I love you." Her eyes shot open again in shock as he kissed her again under the rain.

**End Chapter 9**


	10. Epilogue

**Ouran High School Mix Up**

_I never thought I would end up here. I am in love with the girl I disliked greatly. My life has spiraled in a direction I had never even imagined. Kaoru has a crush, or infatuation, and it's totally mutual. But the weirdest part is that I'm totally happy with it all. I mean, it'll take some time having more people in our world, but it's totally worth it, especially when the person you let in loves you back._

**Epilogue**

Miyuki didn't like dances, she didn't really go to many of them. They were decorated lamely—this was the Valentines dance of all things—and the music wasn't that good. She could say in exception for this one since all of it's music was orchestrated. That hadn't been enough to convince her though. _Hikaru_ had asked her to come, and she couldn't say no to that. She wasn't sure why he asked though, since the Host Club had taken advantage of the school's dance and were offering their services—which was dancing with their guests—at the dance.

Kuri sat next to her, anxious and fidgeting.

"What's up Ku-chan?" Kuri raised an eyebrow at the new nickname, but ignored it nonetheless.

"Kaoru said he'd dance with me, but he had to fill his quota first," Kuri read Miyuki's questioning stared and elaborated, "he struck a deal with Kyouya-sempai. He would host a certain number of guests and have the rest of the time off. Sempai agreed; Kaoru said he was unusually understanding."

"Weird. So, why so jumpy then?"

"I've got to keep watch, you know?" Kuri smiled then directed her attention back to the dancing couples in the middle of the room.

"Kaoru's heart belongs only to you, Kuri. Trust him," Miyuki chided her friend. Kuri shook her head.

"I trust Kaoru fully," she shot Miyuki a sideways glance, "I _don't_trust those girls, however. I'm surprised your not watching Hikaru."

Miyuki shrugged. She hadn't really thought about it and she trusted Hikaru and knew that he was kinda oblivious when it came to girls (hell, she would know). She swayed lightly to the rest of the song, and when it ended, Kaoru bowed to his guest and walked over to Kuri.

"Shall we dance, Hime?" Kaoru smiled jokingly.

Kuri giggled, "if you insist. See you later Yuki." Kaoru gave a little wave and they both turned around and Kaoru offered his arm and he escorted her to the dance floor.

Miyuki smiled and stood up, with her only reason to stay in the room gone, she figured she would walk outside for a while; it was getting much to warm. When she walked outside the cool breeze hit her instantly. She walked down some marble stairs—almost tripping on one—and went to sit beneath a sakura tree. She had a bit of trouble sitting down, and cursed the purple cocktail dress Kuri had made her wear—to get back at her for the dress Miyuki had made her wear at her mom's business party.

She leaned back against the tree and breathed in deep. It wasn't yet season for the sakura to bloom so they were only little pink and white buds contrasting greatly with the night sky. She stretched a little bit and spotted a couple making out behind a tree no less than 80 feet away. She started snickering.

"What are you laughing at?" Hikaru stood over her grinning, "they've got the right idea."

Miyuki stood up—again cursing the dress; getting up showed a bit more than she wanted—and laguhed. "Oh yea, 'cause making out is the answer to all relationship questions."

"We could test that theory," Miyuki made to smack him on the arm. Before her hand made contact, however, Hikaru pulled her in and gave her a quick kiss, leaving her flustered and blushing. "Distraction accomplished." Hikaru dragged her back inside just in time for the next song. It was a slow dance song.

Hikaru wrapped his arms around her waist, and she moved to rest her hands on his shoulders. Hikaru pouted cutely.

"You can't be serious, we've done this before, so don't even tell me it's embarrassing," Hikaru grinned. He reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck _for_ her.

"Nothing's more embarrassing that you randomly kissing me out of nowhere," Miyuki had a blush splayed across her cheeks.

"But that's fun," Hikaru was still smiling. He started swaying to the song. "So Kuri and Kaoru decided not to tell us that they had become a couple while we were at the track meet."

"Go figure, huh?" Miyuki shook her head, "it happens when we're not here to see it."

"And we're the ones who worked so hard to being them together," Hikaru sighed.

"They don't know that, though," Miyuki said, then added, "and I don't think they need to know." Hikaru nodded in agreement. The song ended.

"Not to mention, they decide to tell everyone about their relationship today." Hikaru puffed out his cheeks, miffed at Kaoru for keeping him out of the loop

"That reminds me, what about your customers?" Miyuki stopped swaying and waited for the next song.

"What, you think I'm going to let Kaoru have all the fun? I got the same deal he did."

"Wow, did it take you longer or something?" The song started up again and so did the swaying.

"No," Hikaru pouted, "you just decided to disappear to where ever the hell you did."

"Hehe, sorry."

"No matter," Hikaru tightened his hold on her waist and pressed his forehead to hers, "because now that I have you here, I'm not letting you get away."

"What about _our_secrecy?" Miyuki fought her rising blush.

"Maybe we should tell everyone about us," Hikaru smiled.

"Speaking of which," Miyuki gave him a light kiss on his jawline, "congratulations."

It was Hikaru's turn to blush, "w-what was that for?!"

"For getting second place in the track meet."

"It took you that long to think of that?" Hikaru raised and eyebrow, "and what did that have to do with the previous conversation?"

"Absolutely nothing!" Miyuki stated happily, "I just remembered it now."

"Hmm…" Hikaru looked around, "have you noticed that Kaoru and Kuri are nowhere to be found?"

"Something tells me I don't want to know," she thought about it, "yet, something tells me to go find them."

"Let's not." Miyuki nodded in agreement. "Though we could go create some of our own fun." His eyes flashed excitedly.

Miyuki didn't like the sound of that. "Like what?"

His smile turned smug, "not what you're thinking, I'm sure. It's supposed to be my job to think like that." He grinned.

Miyuki blushed violently. "I wasn't thinking of it like that!" she insisted.

"Sure," Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Well, let's go, it's getting way to warm in here anyway." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her from the crowd of swaying couples. Miyuki stumbled behind him trying to keep up in the obnoxious sandals Kuri had her wear. He pulled her outside, but it was different from the outside you got from exiting the dance hall.

He pulled her to a near by bench and sat down, she sat next to him. "You weren't kidding when you said you were a hopeless romantic." He swung one leg over the bench and leaned against the wall next to it as she mumbled an apology.

"Idiot," he positioned her so she was leaing back against him.

"So," she started after a lengthy silence, "what was so important about coming to this dance?"

"I think that after this point, we shouldn't hide that we're together."

"Does that mean you'll be randomly kissing me at _school_now?" Miyuki facepalmed.

Hikaru smiled and encircled her waist in a possessive embrace. "Maybe." He kissed her neck and laughed when she jumped, he could only imagine the look on her face. "You're so cute," he rested his cheek on the top of her head. She moved away.

"Miyuki?" she turned around so she was sitting on her knees in front of him. She was smiling.

"You're really cute too, Hikaru," she leaned forward one hand gripping the bench on either side of him. Hikaru turned crimson, "especially when you blush." She was still smiling. "And you know what? I love you too, Hikaru Hitachiin." She closed the distance between them.

They separated when the need for air arose. Both teens were violent shades of red but they were both smiling.

"I knew you loved me," Hikaru swung his leg back over so he was sitting normally, Miyuki followed suite, "but it was nice to hear it from you." He put am arm around her and they sat like that for a while.

- - -

"See, wasn't that fun?" Hikaru said when he dropped her off at her house.

"Yes, we should _totally_do it again," Miyuki rolled her eyes.

"Alright! It's a date!" Hikaru gve her a kiss goodbye and walked back to his car and drove off. Miyuki blushed violently after realizing what he had said just now, even though she knew he was kidding. _'Though...'_she smiled, something similar ot that would be just fine with her.

**End Ouran High School Mix Up**


End file.
